Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are being developed as a renewable power source to aid environmental remediation and provide remote monitoring. But long start-up times limit their use as a viable industrial approach. In this study, we sampled sediments from seven different levels of eutrophication lakes and investigated the effects of their initial sediment properties (ISP) on the start-up times of SMFCs. After 60 days, ISP showed a clear influence on SMFCs with start-up times ranging from 7 to 21 days at different sampling sites. Organic matter, especially the labile carbon pools and nitrogen (organic and inorganic) contents in sediment, were closely related to start-up times for the SMFCs. In addition, dehydrogenase activity and high-throughput sequencing revealed that microorganisms in the nutrient enrichment sediments increased organic matter degradation and produced special species such as genus Candidatus Xiphinematobacter that belong to the Verrucomicrobia phyla related to electron transfer. Such active control may improve applicability by accelerating start-up and enhancing SMFC power and bio-catalytic performance. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.