High-voltage thermal breakdown has great potential application in permeability enhancement of coal seam. The characteristics of the breakdown channel, coal element, porosity and microscopic coal petrography of coal under high-voltage electric load were experimentally studied. The coal interior left apparent tracks due to electric current burning with high temperature. The percentage of C, O, Al, Fe, and Si had slightly decreased, while the content of element N increased obviously. Low-pressure nitrogen gas adsorption(LP-N_2GA) and mercury intrusion analysis showed that coal porosity increased. The increases of micropores and mesopores are beneficial to promotion of the ability of gas storage, and the increase of macropores could enhance the gas seepage and migration. The results of scanning electron microscope(SEM) show that there are many exogenous fractures in coal, which is also beneficial to gas seepage and migration. The results lay a theoretical foundation for application of high-voltage thermal breakdown in coal mines. High-voltage thermal breakdown has great potential application in permeability enhancement of coal seam. The characteristics of the breakdown channel, coal element, porosity and microscopic coal petrography of coal under high-voltage electric load were experimentally studied. The coal interior left apparent tracks due The percentage of C, O, Al, Fe, and Si had slightly decreased, while the content of element N increased obviously. Low-pressure nitrogen gas adsorption (LP-N_2GA) and mercury intrusion analysis showed showed that increases of micropores and mesopores are beneficial to promotion of the ability of gas storage, and the increase of macropores could enhance the gas seepage and migration. The results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) show that there are many exogenous fractures in coal, which is also beneficial to gas seepage and migration. The results lay a theoretical foundation for application of high -voltage thermal breakdown in coal mines.