Polyaniline (PANI) coatings were electrodeposited on the surfaces of glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs) to form new electrodes, i.e. PANI/GCEs. It was found that with increased deposition time, the PANI coatings became more compact while the charge transfer resistance of the coatings became higher. The PANI/GCEs were used to detect Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) ions contained in 0.1 M acetate buffer solutions using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV). It was found that the PANI/GCE had a highest anodic stripping peak current in a solution of pH 5.3. The study of the cleaning performance of the PANI/GCEs indicated that there were less remaining metals on the surfaces of the PANI/GCEs compared to the bare GCEs after cleaning at a potential of 0.4 V, which was probably due to that the PANI coatings could effectively prevent the deposition of the metals into the surface defects of the GCEs. The PANI coatings could also reduce the passivation effect of the GCEs, thus improving the repeatability of the electrodes. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.