Porous SiOC monoliths were prepared by solution-based freeze casting of polysiloxane at constant freezing temperature or constant freezing front velocity. Dendritic and prismatic pore structures were obtained by using cyclohexane and tert-butyl alcohol as solvent, respectively. Gradients in freezing velocity lead to gradients in pore window size, whereas a constant freezing velocity (3.3-6.8 mu m/s) generates homogeneous pore structures. The water permeability varies from 1.12 x 10(-13) to 1.03 x 10(-11) m(2) and correlates with the pore window diameter (10-59 mu m) and the porosity (51-82%). In wicking tests, the gradient in pore window size is clearly reflected by a pronounced decrease in the wicking speed. Contrary, a homogeneous pore structure results in wicking curves which are closer to the prediction according to the Lucas-Washburn equation. However, this theoretical approach based on the three parameters, pore window size, porosity and permeability, is insufficient to describe complex three-dimensional pore structures. Besides the porosity, the pore morphology was found to be a major influencing factor on the wicking. The filling of secondary dendrites slows down the wicking into the dendritic structure. Fastest wicking was observed for a prismatic pore structure at low freezing front velocity (6.6 mu m/s) and high porosity (78%), whereas slowest wicking occurred into the dendritic structure with high porosity (76%) and constant freezing temperature (- 20 degrees C). The knowledge of the relationship between structural properties and the resulting wicking behavior can address a variety of pivotal applications in chemical engineering for capillary transport.