Methods for the production of shaped nanoscale-to-microscale structures, wherein a nanoscale-to-microscale template is provided having an original chemical composition and an original shape, and the nanoscale-to-microscale template subjected to a chemical reaction, 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, being a scaled version of the original shape. The shaped nanoscale-to-microscale structure formed comprises an element (such as silicon), a metallic alloy (such as a silicon alloy), or a non-oxide compound (such as silicon carbide or silicon nitride).