The conventional Cabrera-Mott model for describing the kinetics of growth of thin oxide films on metal crystals is based on the assumption that the process is limited by the field-facilitated activated jumps of metal ions on the flat metal-oxide interface. We modify this model in order to apply it to nm-sized metal particles. Our analysis indicates that due to the difference in the distribution of the electric field the kinetics of oxidation of nm-sized particles may be much faster compared to those of macroscopic samples. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.