Carbon matrix materials are regarded as one of the most important electrode materials for heavy metal detection. But even so, optimization procedures of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) for tracing Cd(II) and Pb(II) remains challenging. Here, zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofibers (N-PCNFs) were investigated as a new electrode material for determining the concentration of Cd(II) and Pb(II). By optimizing electrochemical conditions such as deposition potential, deposition time, pH of buffer solution, and quantity of N-PCNFs loaded on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE), the linear response curves of Cd(II) and Pb(II) could be obtained. Due to the unique structural feature and N content, the N-PCNFs possess excellent detection limits of 0.8 mu g L-1 for Cd(II) and 0.3 mu g L-1 for Pb(II) (S/N = 3). To manifest the practical use of the sensor platform the concentration of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in normal tap and waste water were monitored. According to the ICP-MS results, the calculated recovery (97.0-107%) indicates that N-PCNFs have potential as a candidate material to monitor the concentration of Cd(II) and Pb(II) in practical samples