The nanopowders of CoAl and Al 2 O 3 were synthesized from Co 3 O 4 and Al powders using high energy ball milling. The nanostructured 2.25CoAl-Al 2 O 3 composite from the milled powder was consolidated within two min by the pulsed current activated sintering. The mechanical properties and microstucture of the nanostructured 2.25CoAl-Al 2 O 3 was investigated from the view points of using Vickers hardness measurement, X-ray diffraction analysis and FE-SEM observation.