This work is an attempt in order to help towards understanding the influence of the adsorption process on the removal of a VOC (acetaldehyde, CH3CHO) using cyclic non thermal plasma (NIP) combined with a packed-bed of a catalyst support, alpha-Al2O3. In the first part, the results obtained by placing the saturated alumina pellets inside the plasma discharge zone are discussed, in terms of acetaldehyde removal, CO and CO2 production. In the second part, adsorption of CH3CHO, CO, CO2 and O-3 was carried out, from single and multicomponent mixtures of the different compounds. The results showed that (i) the adsorption capacities followed the order CH3CHO >> CO2 > CO; (ii) O-3 was decomposed on the alumina surface; (iii) CO oxidation occurred on the surface when O-3 was present. In the third part, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) was used to follow the alumina surface during acetaldehyde adsorption. DRIFTS measurements demonstrated that besides the bands of molecularly adsorbed acetaldehyde, several absorptions appeared on the spectra showing the intermediate surface transformation of acetaldehyde already at 300 K. Finally, the relationship between the adsorption results and the NTP combined with a packed-bed process is discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.