Massima Mouele, Emile SalomonPetrik, Leslie FeliciaBladergroen, Bernard Jan2026-01-232026-01-232025Li, Y., Xin, Y., Sun, B., Man, C., Mouele, E., Petrik, L., Bladergroen, B.J. and Zhang, C., 2025. Inactivation of Cyclotella meneghiniana to prepare biochar by in-liquid pulsed discharge plasma. Biomass and Bioenergy, 200, p.108034.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.108034https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21820The large-scale outbreaks of harmful algal blooms continue to impact river and lake ecosystems. Converting harmful algal blooms into algal biochar presents a novel approach. This work investigates the inactivation of Cyclotella meneghiniana (the dominant species in diatom blooms) to prepare biochar by in-liquid pulsed discharge plasma (LPDP). Under the conditions of a peak voltage of 30 kV and an electrode spacing of 7 mm, a 100 % inactivation ratio can be achieved within 20 min plasma treatment. The multiple physical and chemical effects generated by in-liquid pulsed discharge cause the cell structure destruction, chlorophyll-a content reduction, enzyme activity decrease, and malondialdehyde oxidative degradation leading to algal inactivation and biochar production. The obtained algal biochar has the advantages of a rich carbon content and a stable structure. This work provides a new technological option for resource utilization of algal blooms.enAlgal biocharIn-liquid pulsed discharge plasmaInactivation mechanismCyclotella meneghinianain-liquid pulsed discharge plasmaArticle