[en] Experimental studies were carried out on the synthesis of nanosize powders of aluminum nitride (AlN) by pulsed wire discharge (PWD). Efforts were devoted to optimize the purity of the synthesized AlN powder by changing circuit inductance and discharge energy. The deposited energy in the wire before the explosion significantly increases when the current rise time is decreased and peak current is increased. The quantitative analysis by X-ray diffraction showed that AlN content is increased by reduction of circuit inductance or increment of charging energy. The highest AlN content of the powder synthesized in mixed NH₃ gas with N₂ was 95 wt.%. The number of micrometer size particles observed by SEM is decreased with increasing AlN content. (author)