Biomass conversion into benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) can provide basic feedstocks for the petrochemical industry, which also serve as the most important aromatic platform molecules for development of high-end chemicals. Present work explored a new route for transformation of bio-oil tar into BTX through current-enhanced catalytic conversion (CECC), involving the synergistic effect between the zeolite catalyst and current to promote the deoxygenation and cracking reactions. The proposed transformation shows an excellent BTX aromatics selectivity of 92.9 C-mol% with 25.1 wt.% yield at 400 degrees C over usual HZSM-5 catalyst. The study of the model compounds revealed that the groups such as methoxy, hydroxyl and methyl in aromatics can be effectively removed in the CECC process. Present transformation potentially provides an important approach for production of the key petrochemicals of BTX and the overall use of bio-oil tar derived from bio-oil or biomass. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.