This review represents the research progress on the synthesis of aluminium nitride powder via carbon thermal reduction (CRN) in terms of the related reaction mechanism, Al₂O₃-C interface improvement, high specific surface area precursor preparation and reaction atmosphere regulation. In this review, the mass loss of the reaction process and the mass transfer process of whisker growth were discussed based on the gas-solid reaction, and the phenomenon of the continuation of the morphology of the synthesized products and precursors as well as the mechanism of the formation of the transformed intermediate state compounds such as Al₂O₃ from Al—O—C and Al—C—N were analyzed according to the solid-solid reaction control mechanism. Moreover, the solid-solid reaction mechanism indicates that C atoms act as electron exchange mediators to promote N₂ decomposition, and the reaction proceeds in a positive direction due to their ability to both gain and lose electrons. Recent research work on the CRN method for the synthesis of AlN powder was summarized.Summary and prospectsThese researches involve 1) the introduction of organic dispersants to increase the dispersion of C and Al₂O₃ particles, and the formation of a uniform binding interface between particles, 2) the introduction of a binder (i.e., an organic carbon source) on the uniform coating of Al₂O₃ particles and pyrolysis to form a uniform combination of cracked carbon and Al₂O₃ particles, 3) the decomposition of organic matter, combustion synthesis and sol-gel and foam-injection coagulation to obtain precursors with a porous structure and a high specific surface area and the uniform mixing of aluminium and carbon sources in a micron scale, thus reducing the conditions for complete reaction and synthesizes high-quality nanopowders of AlN and 4) increasing the substitution (flow) efficiency of the reaction atmosphere, reducing the partial pressure of CO and increasing the partial pressure of N₂ to promote the positive synthesis reaction. According to the existing research, the future industrial development can be based on the combination of key process technology and key equipment. The continuous precursor manufacturing and continuous high-temperature synthesis equipment, especially continuous high-temperature synthesis equipment to eliminate differences in temperature zones and in airflow fields, need to be developed for the enhanced performance and efficiency of AlN powder synthesized by the CRN method.