Porous ceramic bodies and process for their preparation

A method for making a porous ceramic body comprising:

• providing a porogen comprising a particulate material selected from carbon and an organic compound;
• coating the porogen with a coating agent comprising a material selected from the group consisting of quartz, silica, kaolin, chamotte, mullite, alumina, zirconia, yttrium oxide, titanium oxide, magnesium oxide, and mixtures thereof, wherein the amount of coating ranges from 3%-20% by weight of the coated porogen;
• admixing the coated porogen into an oxide ceramic precursor comprising a material different than the coating material, wherein the coated porogen comprises at least 5% by weight of the mixture;
• forming the mixture into a green body;
• firing the green body to obtain a porous ceramic body having a total porosity of at least 10%, an open porosity lower than 1.5% and a closed porosity of at least 8.5%, wherein the inner surface of the pores of the porous ceramic body are coated with a thermolysis product of said coated porogen.