Intrinsically fluorescent and quercetin loaded highly crosslinked polyphosphazene nanospheres: synthesis, characterization and fluorescence properties

Highly crosslinked, inorganic-organic hybrid and intrinsically fluorescent polyphosphazene nanospheres bearing hydroxyl groups on the surface are facilely generated via a one-pot polycondensation of octachlorocyclotetraphosphazene, fluorescein and quercetin. The resulting nanospheres were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and ultravioletvisible spectroscopy (UV-vis) techniques.