Herein, a poly(L-cysteine) modified glassy carbon electrode was prepared by electropolymerization. Gold nanorods were assembled onto the surface of the poly(L-cysteine) modified electrode surface via Au-S bonds. Scanning electron microscope was used to characterize gold nanorods. The final electrode was used for the detection of catechol and hydroquinone. The results showed that this modified electrode exhibited obvious electrocatalytic effect on catechol and hydroquinone. Differential pulse voltammetry was used to detect catechol and hydroquinone in 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.0 ). The detection limit was 2.6 × 10 -7 mol/L and 1.2× 10 -7 mol/L, respectively. In addition, the proposed electrode had good stability and reproducibility, and could be used for detecting catechol and hydroquinone in samples.