In 1911 M. Potter described how microbial conversions could create reducing power, and thus electric current. Twenty years later Cohen (1931) investigated the capacity of bacteria to produce an electrical flow and he noted that the main limitation is the small capacity of  current generation in microorganisms. Berk and Canfield (1964) didnt build the first microbial fuel cell (MFC) until the 60s.
Currently, the investigation of bioelectrochemical reactors is increasing. These devices have real applications in fields like water treatment, energy production and storage, resources production, recycling and recovery.