Two different anode materials, carbon veil (CV) and carbon cloth (CC), were modified with a micro-porous layer (MPL) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). When the biofilm on the anodes matured, the maximum power output from the MPL modified carbon veil (CV20-MPL) and carbon cloth (CC-MPL) was 304.3 mu W (60.7 mW/m(2)) and 253.9 mu W (50.6 mW/m(2)), respectively. These were 2.2 and 1.8 times higher than the power output produced from the unmodified CV and CC, respectively. The 7-month operational tests indicated that the long-term stability of the MFCs was enhanced with the modified MPL anodes, which increased the anode surface roughness and provided higher surface area. Higher bacterial population was observed in the MFCs with the MPL anodes, which confirms the power generation results. This is the first time that the MPL has been used as an efficient anode material in MFCs. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.