The potential of using sodium bromate as a cathodic electron acceptor in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was determined in this study. The effects of sodium bromate concentration and initial catholyte pH on the electricity production of the MFC were investigated. The MFC performance improved with increasing sodium bromate concentration and decreasing catholyte pH. The maximum voltage output (0.538 V), power density (1.4908Wm(-3)), optimal open circuit potential (1.635 V), coulombic efficiency (11.1%), exchange current density (0.538 A m(-3)) and charge transfer resistance (4274.1 Omega) were obtained at pH 3.0 and 100 mM sodium bromate. This work is the first to confirm that sodium bromate could be used as an electron acceptor in MFCs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.