A simple hydrothermal method was used to prepareyttrium oxide (YO) nanorods and Ch-YO nanocomposite based nanorods. The obtained nanorods were investigated using various analytical techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An XRD investigation confirms the well confined crystallinity without agglomeration after the coating with chitosan. The presence of functional groups was analysed using FTIR and self aligned nanorods was found using SEM. The developed nanorods were subjected for the detection of Cd (II) ions using cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry revealing nanorods with enhanced sensing and electrocatalytic behavior towards Cd (II) ions. The presence of amine and carboxyl groups on nanorods helped in reducing the agglomeration and crystallite size, these size dependent properties supported the nanorods to achieve LOD (0.00118 μM) and sensitivity of 27.84 μA μM −1 which in turn applied for real-time analysis. © 2019, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.