A mediator microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed by using E. coli as biocatalyst and new methylene blue as electron mediator. E. coli cells were carried out in anaerobic growth prior to inoculating them into the MFC in order to pre-adapt bacterial metabolism in an anaerobic environment, the electricity generation of MFC was tested, its maximum power density reached 263.94 mW/m2 with the corresponding current density 1287.50 mA/m2, the internal resistance of MFC was 200Ω, and capability of the MFC was even better than those reported so far. Moreover, on-electrode taming method was adopted to improve electrochemical activity of E. coli, namely a combination of E. coli taming and electricity generation simultaneously in the same MFC without scraping off the biofilm of MFC, after the 4th on-electrode taming, the tamed E. coli MFC showed a 54% improvement in peak current density, being 612.50 mA/m2, and a 64% improvement in the maximum power output, being 166.67 mW/m2, compared with that of parental E. coli MFC. And the maturation time of tamed biofilm was obviously reduced to 240 min, quickening up 1 times compared with that of parental E. coli biofilm.
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