Nanostructured materials and hybrid architectures for electrochemical sensing of nilutamide and flutamide: detection mechanisms, analytical performance, challenges, and future perspectives.

Nilutamide (NLM) and flutamide (FLU) are important non-steroidal antiandrogen drugs widely used in the treatment of prostate cancer. The determination of NLM and FLU in biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical samples is of great significance for therapeutic monitoring and assessment of potential contamination. Electrochemical sensing has emerged as an attractive analytical approach because of its cost-effectiveness and simplicity. This review critically evaluated the recent advances in sensing materials for construction of electrochemical sensors for NLM and FLU quantification. Nanostructured materials such as transition-metal oxides, metal sulfides, metal-organic frameworks, carbon nanotubes, graphene derivatives, MXenes, polymers, layered double hydroxides, and hybrid composites have been reviewed for NLM and FLU detection. The influence of electrode materials, surface structure, catalytic activity, conductivity, and interfacial interactions on the electroanalytical response has been discussed in relation to the underlying oxidation and reduction mechanisms of NLM and FLU. The analytical performance of the recently reported electrochemical NLM and FLU sensors has been discussed in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, detection limit, stability, reproducibility and recoveries in spiked samples. Finally, challenges, limitations, and future directions are discussed, including improved interface design, mechanistic understanding, standardized testing, and portable sensing systems for efficient NLM and FLU detection.