An Al–10Ni–8Y (at.%) alloy was atomized by Ar gas and the morphology, microstructure, thermal stability, phase composition and microhardness of the as-atomized powder were investigated. Most of the powders are spherical in shape, but the surface morphology was different for powder of different size. The cross-section microstructure of powder with size below 15μm in diameter showed no detailed feature, indicating existence of amorphous phase or nanocrystalline structure. The as-atomized powder showed four distinct exothermic peaks when heated at 296, 340, 366 and 456°C. The glass transition temperature T g , crystallization temperature T x , and the temperature interval of the supercooled liquid region ΔT x (=T x −T g ) were detected to be about 266, 288 and 22°C. The Al 82 Ni 10 Y 8 alloy powder exhibits a high Vickers hardness of 230.6, and shows great potential for structural application.