By a self-organization process of alginate sol, alumina ceramic bodies with high porosity characterized by highly ordered and unidirectional oriented pores in the micrometer range were successfully fabricated with a 5-15 wt% solid loading range. The obtained porous Al(2)O(3) ceramics had a high total porosity over 70%, most (>88%) of which were open pores, as well as an excellent permeability (K > 2.16 x 10(-11) m(2)) and high compressive strength (>15 MPa). The pore size, porosity, and thus the permeability and mechanical properties of the sintered ceramics can be effectively controlled by choosing different initial solid loadings.