Ni-AlN composite coating was fabricated onto the surface of steel substrates by using pulse electrodeposition (PED) technique in this work. The effect of pulse current on the nucleation and growth of grains was investigated using transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The results show that the contents of AlN nanoparticles increase with density of pulse current and on-duty ratio of pulse current increasing. Whereas the size of nickel grains decreases with density of pulse current increasing and on-duty ratio of pulse current decreasing. Ni-AlN composite coating consists of crystalline nickel (similar to 68 nm) and AlN particles (similar to 38 nm). SEM and AFM observations show that the composite coatings obtained by PED showed more compact surfaces and less grain sizes, whereas those obtained by direct current electrodepositing have rougher surfaces and bigger grain sizes. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B. V.