High-purity aluminum nitride nanopowders were synthesized using an RF induction thermal plasma instrument. Ammonia and nitrogen gases were used as sheath gas to control the reactor atmosphere. Synthesized AlN nanopowders were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, BET, FTIR, and N-O analyses. It was possible to synthesize high-purity AlN nanoparticles through control of the ammonia gas flow rate. However, additional process parameters such as plasma power and reactor pressure had to be controlled for the production of high-purity AlN nanopowders using nitrogen gas.