Ceramic carrier, ceramic catalytic body and methods for manufacturing them

To provide a ceramic carrier having a cordierite porous body, which is stable at high temperature and has high specific surface area, as a base material and a granular agglomerate in which fibrous ceramics are intertwined with one another and to provide a ceramic catalytic body. ;SOLUTION: The cordierite-based porous ceramic carrier has the granular agglomerate in which fibrous ceramics are intermingled with one another. The ceramic catalytic body is manufactured by depositing a catalyst component on the porous ceramic carrier and has fibrous ceramics. A method for manufacturing the porous ceramic carrier comprises a step of reacting a part of a raw material with a porogen to produce the granular agglomerate of fibrous ceramics intermingled with one another on the surface of a sintered compact at a firing step. As a result, a catalyst-deposited honeycomb structure can be obtained, which has large specific surface area, the decrease of whose specific surface area due to the sintering is restrained, which has a small heat capacity and consequently is activated in early stages and has a small pressure loss, the cordierite porous body as the base material and the granular agglomerate of fibrous ceramics intermingled with one another