Hybrid composite materials with multiscale morphologies are formed by doping polymer submicrometer spheres with semiconductor or metal (e.g. CdS or Ag, respectively) nanoparticles and using these doped microspheres as functional building blocks in production of hybrid periodically structured materials. The preparation of hybrid polymer particles include the following stages: (i) synthesis of monodisperse polymer microspheres, (ii) in-situ synthesis of the inorganic nanoparticles either on the surface, or in the bulk with polymer beads, and (iii) encapsulation of hybrid microspheres with a hydrophobic shell.