Nanomaterials for drug analysis: emerging advancements and future challenges

Abstract

Nanomaterials, with their unique advantages, are expected to provide a strong impetus for breakthroughs in many real-world technologies, and they are particularly attractive in the field of drug detection. Currently, research on the development and application of nanomaterials in sample pretreatment and nanosensors is booming. New materials and applications are constantly being reported. This review provides a comprehensive and heuristic overview of the applications of nanomaterials in drug analysis. Various nanomaterials, including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene derivatives, silicon-based materials, molecularly imprinted polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), microporous organic networks (MONs), and dopamine nanoparticles, have emerged as powerful tools for sample pretreatment, largely owing to their distinctive structural and chemical properties. This enables more efficient purification, concentration, and isolation of analytes in fields such as pharmaceutical analysis, environmental monitoring, and clinical testing. In addition, nanomaterials exhibit a suite of unique properties-such as large specific surface areas, tunable surface chemistries, excellent electrical conductivity, superior optical responsiveness, and high affinity for target analytes-that make them highly suitable for the development of sensitive and selective nanosensors across various fields, including clinical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and food safety testing. These inherent characteristics enable nanosensors to achieve ultra-low detection limits, distinguish target drugs from complex matrix interferences with remarkable precision, and even realize real-time or in situ detection, thereby addressing critical challenges in traditional sensing technologies.