Carbon materials are widely used as electrodes for bioelectrochemical systems (BES). However, a thick biofilm tends to grow on the electrode surface during continuous operation, resulting in constrained transport of electrons and nutrients at the cell-electrode interface. In this work, we tackled this problem by adopting a WO3-nanorods modified carbon electrode (C-WO3 nanorods), which completely suppressed the biofilm growth of Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1. Moreover, the C-WO3 nanorods exhibited high electric conductivity and strong response to riboflavin. These two factors together make it possible for the C-WO3 nanorods to maintain a sustained, efficient process of electron transfer from the MR-1 planktonic cells. As a consequence, the microbial fuel cells with C-WO3 nanorods anode showed more stable performance than the pure carbon paper and WO3-nanoparticles systems in prolonged operation. This work suggests that WO3 nanorods have the potential to be used as a robust and biofouling-resistant electrode material for practical bioelectrochemical applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.