Engineered 2D Nanomaterials Are Powering the Next Wave of Disease-Detecting Biosensors

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The emergence of two-dimensional nanomaterials as sensing elements reflects a broader shift in diagnostic thinking. Conventional clinical diagnostics often rely on centralized laboratory infrastructure, batch processing, and reagent-intensive workflows that can be poorly matched to the realities of clinics in remote or under-resourced settings. Two-dimensional materials, by contrast, offer a combination of properties that map closely onto the requirements of point-of-care testing: atomically thin structures with exceptionally high surface-to-volume ratios, tunable surface chemistries that can be functionalized with biorecognition elements, and electronic or optical behaviors that respond sensitively to molecular binding events at the sensor surface. When a target biomarker from blood, saliva, sweat, urine, or breath interacts with a properly engineered two-dimensional surface, even small changes in charge transfer, current, refractive index, or light absorption can be transduced into a measurable analytical signal, which is precisely the kind of amplification a diagnostic platform needs to detect disease markers present at very low concentrations.

The MXenes, first reported at Drexel University in 2011, illustrate why this material class has attracted such sustained attention. These carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides are produced by selectively etching layers from layered ceramic precursors, leaving behind sheets terminated with surface functional groups that can be chemically modified. The etching step is therefore not merely a preparation detail but a determinant of the final material’s properties. The classical route using hydrofluoric acid produces high-quality sheets but carries obvious safety and handling burdens, which has motivated the development of molten salt etching, electrochemical etching, and milder acidic or alkaline treatments. Each of these alternatives changes the surface termination density, the degree of delamination, and the defect population of the resulting flakes, and those structural differences propagate directly into sensing performance. For diagnostic applications, this means that synthesis route selection is inseparable from device design: a MXene prepared one way may excel at electrochemical glucose detection while the same nominal composition prepared another way may perform poorly, a variability that must be controlled if sensors are ever to be manufactured reproducibly at scale.

The pairing of MXenes with cellulose to form nanocomposites is a particularly instructive example of how composite engineering can extend material function beyond what either component achieves alone. Cellulose, abundant, biodegradable, and mechanically flexible, provides a biocompatible scaffold that can stabilize MXene sheets against restacking and oxidation, two well-known failure modes for these materials in aqueous biological environments. The resulting hybrids combine the electrical conductivity and surface reactivity of the MXene with the processability, flexibility, and mechanical resilience of the polymer network, enabling formats such as flexible films and wearable patches. The reported self-healing behavior and antibacterial activity of these composites are relevant to real-world deployment, since wearable sensors must tolerate repeated deformation and skin contact without losing function or becoming reservoirs for microbial growth. Real-time sensing functionality in such formats points toward continuous monitoring rather than single-shot testing, a distinction that matters greatly for managing chronic conditions and for tracking disease progression over time.

Glucose and lactate detection exemplify the analytical challenges that MXene-based sensors are being asked to meet. Both analytes are central to metabolic monitoring, and both occur in easily accessible biofluids such as sweat and saliva, which makes non-invasive or minimally invasive sampling feasible. However, concentrations in these matrices are typically far lower than in blood, and the matrices themselves contain salts, proteins, and interfering electroactive species that can confound electrochemical measurements. The incorporation of metal nanoparticles, metal oxides, and carbon-based nanomaterials into MXene films addresses several of these issues simultaneously: the added components introduce catalytic sites that accelerate electron transfer, improve selectivity against interferents, and enhance biocompatibility so that enzymes or other recognition elements retain activity at the sensor surface. The resulting conductivity gains also lower detection limits and improve signal stability, which are prerequisites for regulatory-grade diagnostic performance rather than laboratory demonstrations.

The MoS2-silver nanocomposite work described in the collection adds a manufacturing dimension to this discussion. Formulating two-dimensional materials into conductive inks opens a pathway to printed sensors, in which the active material is deposited onto flexible substrates by screen printing, inkjet printing, or related techniques. Printing is attractive because it is additive, low-waste, and compatible with roll-to-roll production, which is how disposable diagnostic strips and wearable electrodes are realistically manufactured at volume. The demonstration that MoS2-Ag inks can produce sensors capable of detecting dopamine with exceptionally high performance is significant beyond the specific analyte. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter whose dysregulation is implicated in neurological and psychiatric conditions, and it is also a classic electrochemical interferent in biological fluids, so a sensor that resolves it cleanly demonstrates the kind of selectivity and sensitivity that clinical translation demands. The same ink-based platform logic could, in principle, be adapted to other biomarkers by changing the surface functionalization while retaining the underlying transducer chemistry.

The near-infrared sensing approach for tuberculosis rounds out the technical picture by showing that two-dimensional and nanomaterial-enabled diagnostics need not be electrochemical at all. Tuberculosis remains one of the world’s most consequential infectious diseases, and its diagnosis still depends heavily on methods that require laboratory infrastructure, trained personnel, or sputum collection procedures that patients find difficult. Optical sensing in the near-infrared range exploits the fact that molecular vibrations produce characteristic absorption features in this spectral window, allowing chemical fingerprints of biological samples to be captured non-invasively. The reported ability to discriminate between different TB strains using such samples is notable because strain-level information has epidemiological value, informing outbreak investigation and treatment decisions. Because optical measurements can be made rapidly and without consumable reagents, NIR platforms are naturally suited to portable devices deployed in field surveys, where fresh data collection supports real-time public health responses rather than retrospective analysis.

Viewed together, the four studies in this collection trace the full arc from materials synthesis to application. They show that the structural-property-performance chain, in which particle size, morphology, and surface chemistry determine how a nanomaterial interacts with a biomarker, and that interaction determines the analytical signal, is the organizing principle of the field. They also show that no single material is sufficient: MXenes need conductive and catalytic partners for electrochemical sensing, MoS2 benefits from metallic components for ink formulation, and cellulose provides the mechanical and biological compatibility that pure inorganic sheets lack. This composites-first mindset is likely to define the next phase of the field, as researchers move from demonstrating that two-dimensional materials can sense toward engineering platforms that can sense reliably, repeatedly, and affordably in the hands of non-specialists.

The translational barriers highlighted in this Research Topic deserve emphasis because they are shared across the entire nanodiagnostics enterprise. Scale-up of nanomaterial synthesis remains difficult: laboratory methods that produce small batches of well-characterized flakes often do not translate directly to kilogram-scale production without changes in flake dimensions, defect densities, and batch-to-batch variability. The editorial’s call for integrating computational modeling with plant design and surface engineering reflects a recognition that precise property control must be designed into the manufacturing process, not inspected afterward. Modeling can predict how etching conditions shape surface terminations, how those terminations affect biomarker binding, and how process parameters influence final device performance, allowing synthesis to be optimized in silico before expensive campaigns at scale.

The regulatory gap around nanotoxicity is equally consequential. Nanomaterials can interact with biological systems in ways that bulk analogues of the same chemical composition do not, and the toxicological evaluation frameworks that exist in many jurisdictions were not designed with engineered nanomaterials in mind. In developing countries, where the burden of infectious disease is often greatest and where diagnostic access is most limited, the absence of such frameworks creates a double bind: the populations that would benefit most from affordable nanodiagnostics are also those least served by the regulatory infrastructure needed to approve them. The editorial’s appeal to the scientific community, government structures, and funding agencies to address this gap is a reminder that commercialization of nano-enabled diagnostics is not solely a technical problem. It requires coordinated investment in toxicology, standards, and regional regulatory capacity, and it offers the prospect of homegrown innovations that respond to regional disease profiles rather than imported solutions designed for other markets.

The epidemiological context that motivates this work also warrants reflection. The estimated 537 million adults living with diabetes, and the comorbidity burden linking metabolic disease with HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, mean that diagnostic platforms must increasingly serve dual purposes: detecting acute infections and supporting long-term monitoring of chronic conditions in the same patients. Biosensors capable of continuous or repeated assessment from accessible biofluids fit this need in a way that episodic laboratory testing does not, because they can reveal trends, flag deterioration, and support predictive diagnosis of comorbidities before symptoms become severe. The convergence of infectious and non-communicable disease management on a single sensing platform is therefore not just a convenience but a clinical necessity in regions where healthcare encounters are infrequent and costly.

Finally, the collection underscores that the future of two-dimensional nanomaterial diagnostics will be decided as much by engineering, regulation, and manufacturing discipline as by materials discovery. The scientific foundations are strong: the materials exist, the transduction mechanisms are understood, and the demonstrations in this Research Topic span electrochemical, optical, and wearable formats across diseases of global significance. What remains is the harder work of standardization, reproducibility, toxicological assurance, and regulatory alignment that converts promising laboratory sensors into devices that clinicians and patients can trust. The editorial’s framing of these challenges, alongside the concrete materials advances it surveys, provides a realistic roadmap for a field whose ultimate measure of success will be diagnostics that reach the communities where the diseases they target are most prevalent.

Subject of Research: 2D nanomaterial-based biosensor platforms for human disease detection

Article Title: Editorial: Engineered 2D nanomaterial based diagnostic platforms for human disease detection

Article References: Editorial: Engineered 2D nanomaterial based diagnostic platforms for human disease detection. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.3389/fsens.2026.1944487

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fsens.2026.1944487

Keywords: 2D nanomaterials, biosensors, MXenes, molybdenum disulfide, glucose monitoring, tuberculosis diagnostics, wearable sensors, point-of-care testing, nanotoxicology, electrochemical sensors, near-infrared sensors, infectious diseases