Flocculation behavior and mechanism of the exopolysaccharide secreted by Pseudoalteromonas sp. SM9913 (EPS SM9913), a psychrophilic bacterium isolated from 1855 in deep-sea sediment, has been studied in this paper. EPS SM9913 showed a peak flocculating activity of 49.3 in 1 g/L kaolin suspension with 4.55 mmol/L CaCl2 and the optimum pH range of 5-8. It appears that the flocculating activity of EPS SM9913 was stimulated by Ca2+ and Fe2+. This study found that EPS SM9913 showed a better flocculation performance than Al-2(SO4)(3) at salinity of 5-100 parts per thousand or temperatures of 5-15 degrees C. In addition, this EPS was effective to flocculate several other suspended solids. The measured zeta-potentials, the size of floes formed during the flocculation process and the surface profile of floes revealed by scan electron micrograph suggest that bridging is the main flocculation mechanism of the studied EPS. Deacetylation of EPS SM9913 resulted in a significant decrease in its flocculating activity indicating that the large number of acetyl groups in EPS SM9913 played an important role in its flocculation performance. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.