Abstract In the current study the dependency of morphology and thermal behavior of medium density polyethylene (MDPE) powder reinforced with 0, 5, 10 and 15 wt.% nano-sized Al₂O₃ particles on mechanical milling were studied. The effects of milling time on the morphology and the thermal behavior were investigated by Transition Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetery (DSC) and Thermo Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA). The TEM micrographs obtained from the nanocomposites proved that mechanical milling could be an adequate method to disperse nano-sized hard particles throughout the polymer. The SEM micrographs of pure MDPE showed that regular shape powder converted to the flake shapes as milling time increased. Also the results illustrated that an increase in milling time caused to decrease the agglomeration of alumina. The DSC profiles of samples elucidated that ball milling had little effect on crystalline temperature and melting point of all materials including MDPE and its nanocomposites. The nanocomposite exhibited more thermal stability than pure polyethylene proved by TGA tests.