Ceramic articles made from ceramic beads with open porosity

A method of manufacturing a ceramic article, comprising:

• mixing together a batch mixture comprising a plurality of porous ceramic beads with a median bead size from 25 μm to 40 μm and comprising a porous ceramic material with an open intrabead porosity;
• shaping the batch mixture into a green ceramic article;
• firing the green ceramic article to sinter together the porous ceramic beads into an interconnected network of the porous ceramic beads and form the ceramic article;
• and
• wherein interstices between the beads in the interconnected network define an interbead porosity of the ceramic article, a total porosity of the ceramic article defined as a sum of the intrabead porosity and the interbead porosity is at least 50% relative to a total volume of the ceramic article, the ceramic article comprises a bimodal pore size distribution in which an intrabead median pore size of the intrabead porosity is less than an interbead median pore size of the interbead porosity, and the porous ceramic beads comprise a closed bead porosity of less than 5%.