This paper reports the use of a carbon ceramic electrode as a highly-porous substrate for the electrochemical formation of cobalt oxide nanoparticles The electrocatalyst was characterized by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry techniques and it was used in a homemade flow injection analysis (FIA) system for acetaminophen determination using 0 1 M KOH as the carrier solution The rate constant (k(s)) and charge transfer coefficient (alpha) were calculated for the electron exchange reaction of the modified film The kinetic parameters and the mechanism of acetaminophen electrooxidation at the electrode surface were studied by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry The effects of working potential and flow rate on the performance of the FIA system were studied Under optimized conditions the electrode response due to the electrocatalytic oxidation of acetaminophen at 450 mV (vs SCE) is proportional to the concentration of acetaminophen over a 5-35 mu M range with an associated detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0 37 mu M and a sensitivity of 0 0296 mu A/mu M The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 1 6% for eight replicate measurements The modified electrode was used to determine the acetaminophen content in tablet samples (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved