Methods of forming metal oxide nanostructures, and nanostructures thereof

A substrate comprising a free-standing three dimensional chelated oligomeric metal oxide precursor bonded to the substrate, wherein the free-standing three dimensional chelated oligomeric metal oxide precursor is a non-sol-gel type, and the substrate is solvent soluble, wherein the free-standing three dimensional chelated oligomeric metal oxide precursor is of the formula:

• wherein R, R′, and R″ are independently a C1-C20 alkyl group, m is an integer from zero to n−1, and n is an integer from 2 to 10,
• wherein the free-standing three dimensional chelated oligomeric metal oxide precursor thermally deformable to a metal oxide nanostructure comprising anatase titania.