A versatile and green method is developed to ion-implant novel Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) with an energy of 21 keV at a fluence of 1.0 x 10(17) ions cm(-2) onto indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. The morphology and structure of the PtNPs are characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealing that the diameters range from 2 to 12 nm and the average radius is 8 nm. Based on the electrochemical oxidation of methanol, we find that the PtNP/ITO electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity, which could be useful in fuel cells. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.