This article describes a new technique for fabricating an electrocatalyst model in which the particle size and interparticle distance are controlled independently. We designed a uniform insulating polymer layer as a mask on an electroconductive glassy carbon substrate and then peeled off a part of the layer in nano-sized dots by scratching the overcoat layer using an atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever. Pt particles electrodeposited only on the peeled off area of the glassy carbon. To peel-off a small area on the glassy carbon, a 29 +/- 2 nm thick insulating polymer overcoat layer and a cantilever operating area of 10 nm x 10 nm were used, and the smallest peel-off area obtained was 30 nm x 30 nm. Thereafter, we performed the peel-off procedure on the polymer overcoat layer of the glassy carbon substrate having a cantilever operating area of 80 nm x 80 nm. Pt deposition of 100-150 nm in diameter was successfully achieved by adjusting the interparticle distance. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.