This article reports a composite electrode of Fe2O3 nanoparticles/SWCNTs for hydroquinone electrochemical sensing. The synthesis includes the wet-chemical synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and the assembly of Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto single walled carbon nanotubes. Fe3O4/NH2-CNTs composite is formed via the electrostatic attraction between positively-charged ammonia-terminated CNTs and negatively-charged Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Subsequent heat treatment oxidizes Fe3O4 to Fe2O3. The composite can be applied onto FTO glass to form Fe2O3/CNTs/FTO electrode and the electrode shows good performance in electrochemical sensing of hydroquinone as compared to Fe2O3/FID and CNTs/FTO electrodes. SEM and TEM results show the iron oxide NPs were uniformly dispersed onto the surface of SWCNTs. The iron oxide NPs which uniformly anchored on the SWCNTs could accelerate the electron transfer rate which was evidenced by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The enhancement of electrochemical response further confirms the synergy between Fe2O3 NPs and SWCNTs. Differential pulse voltammetry was successfully used to quantify hydroquinone within the concentration range of 1.0 similar to 80.0 mu M under optimal conditions. The detection limit of Fe2O3/CNTs/FTO electrode for hydroquinone was 0.50 mu M (S/N = 3). The electrode was further applied to test for hydroquinone in tap water and the Fe2O3/CNTs/FTO electrode also presents good stability and high reproducibility, proofing the potential of Fe2O3/CNTs electrode as a promising electrochemical sensor. This work presents an electrode using FTO substrate for the first time. It shows that FTO can be a potential alternative to glassy carbon electrode with lower cost, but without compromising too much on the sensitivity. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.