Strategies for enhancing the analytical performance of nanomaterial-based sensors

•Strategies for enhancing the analytical performance of nanomaterial-based sensors.•The influence of nanomaterials characteristics on analytical performance.•Appropriate calibration models overcome the device-to-device variation.•Advantages and limitations of integrating nanomaterials on sensing platforms. We provide a state-of-the-art review of the main strategies for the enhancement of analytical performance of sensors using nanomaterials, particularly nanowires and carbon-based materials. We emphasize the way to overcome the problem of device-to-device variation. We discuss the study of the influence of nanomaterial characteristics, sensor dimensions and operational conditions on sensing performance, and the application of appropriate calibration models.