To eliminate contaminants like phenol and dichromate from aqueous solutions is still a hot research interest. In contrast to a traditional method within high intensity of energy input, both dichromate and phenol were removed within self-powered process through a phenol-Cr(VI) coupled redox fuel cell reactor, which was uniquely assembled on Ni/C anode the electro-oxidation of phenol takes place to give electrons and then go through the external circuit reducing Cr(VI) to Cr(III) on the cathode. Taking an example of 0.94 g L-1 phenol in 0.2 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS) serving as the anolyte and 0.15 g L-1 Cr(VI) in 0.5 M H2SO4 serving as the catholyte, a net power density of 0.184 W m(-2) at 0.61 V can be gained. A removal efficiency of 98.6% for 0.94 g L-1 phenol within 132 h and 99.8% for 0.30 g L-1 Cr(VI) within 60 h can be readily achieved in the system. This confirmed in the fed-batch mode that either the contaminants of phenol and Cr(VI) in solutions is effectively removed or the energy contained in chemicals as the form of electricity has been exactly retrieved. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.