Rational design of a hierarchical HKUST-1@MXene nanocomposite modified electrode for high performance voltammetric sensing of sorafenib.

Sorafenib is a first-line targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma, for which precise monitoring is essential to guarantee the medication safety of patients. In this study, a novel electrochemical sensor (HKUST-1/MXene/pABSA/GCE) was developed for the sensitive detection of sorafenib. The electrode was prepared by first electrodepositing poly(p-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) (pABSA), followed by depositing MXene solution and subsequent in situ growth of HKUST-1. The as-prepared modified electrode was characterized by SEM, XPS, CV, and EIS. Under optimized conditions, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) results showed a linear relationship between the oxidation peak current and the logarithm of sorafenib concentration from 2 to 2.0 × 104 nmol L-1, with a detection limit of 0.17 nmol L-1 (S/N = 3). The sensor exhibited high selectivity, good reproducibility, and satisfactory stability and was successfully applied to spike recovery tests in goat serum and human urine, achieving recovery rates of 96.1-105.6% with relative standard deviation (RSD) values below 5%. These results indicated that the proposed sensor provided a reliable platform for sorafenib detection in complex biological samples.