Methods of fabricating nanoscale-to-microscale structures

A method for the production of a shaped nanoscale-to-microscale structure comprising:

• providing a nanoscale-to-microscale template having an original chemical composition and an original shape;
• subjecting said nanoscale-to-microscale template to at least a first chemical reaction that yields a first reaction product comprising at least one condensed oxide compound and a second reaction product selected from the group consisting of a metallic element, a mixture of metallic elements, a metallic solid solution, an intermetallic compound, a non-oxide ceramic compound and mixtures thereof, so as to partially or completely convert the nanoscale-to-microscale template into the shaped nanoscale-to-microscale structure having a chemical composition different than the original chemical composition and having substantially the same shape as the original shape;
• and
• selectively removing at least a portion of the condensed oxide compound to yield a shaped nanoscale-to-microscale structure having substantially the same shape as the original shape and comprising the second reaction product.