A carbon/ionic liquid paste electrode (CILPE) prepared by 1-hexylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate as the binder was used as the substrate electrode. A layer of graphene oxide (GO) film was cast on CILPE surface (GO/CILPE) and the electropolymerization of acridine orange (AO) on electrode was further realized by cyclic voltammetry in the potential range from -1.40V to 1.40V, which could simultaneously reduce GO to graphene (GR) electrochemically. The fabricated PAO-GR/CILPE exhibited good electrochemical performances with higher conductivity and lower electron transfer resistance. Electrochemical behaviors of rutin were further investigated on the modified electrode in 0.1 mol/L pH 2.0 phosphate buffer solution by cyclic voltammetry with a pair of well-defined redox peaks appeared. The peak-to-peak separation (Delta E-p) was calculated as 0.076V, which proved a fast quasi-reversible electron transfer process and the electrochemical parameters of rutin on PAO-GR/CILPE were calculated. Under the optimal conditions, the linear relationship between the oxidation peak current of rutin and its concentration was obtained in the range from 0.03 to 800.0 mu mol/L with the detection limit as 8.33 nmol/L (3 sigma). The PAO-GR/CILPE showed good selectivity, stability and reproducibility, which was further applied to detect rutin tablet samples with satisfactory results. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.