## 1 Introduction
The hydrocarbon-ammonia route entails a series of stages, including the preparation of a precursor-derived hydroxide gel, the formation of a pseudosol through the treatment of the hydroxide (or hydrated precursor [22]) by a peptizer acid, granulation, washing filtration, drying, and a heat treatment [4; 13; 23]. For the granulation step, the pseudosol broth is transferred dropwise into a gelation column consisting of a liquid hydrocarbon (oil) on the top and an ammonia solution (gelling media) at the bottom. The sol drops are formed due to surface tension when they come into contact with the superficial oil layer and are subsequently congealed in the coagulant ammonia solution [3; 13; 15]. Examples of this route mainly include \(\gamma\)-Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)[6; 12; 24], TiO\({}_{2}\)/\(\gamma\)-Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)[25], N-doped TiO\({}_{2}\)/\(\gamma\)-Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)[26], and silicate/\(\gamma\)-Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)-derived granules [4], as well as CSZ [15; 22] and ZrO\({}_{2}\) fuel kernels and pellets (referred to as external gelation) [27]. However, the cost of the precursors for the initial broth and the toxic-corrosiveness of the gelling bath are negative aspects to be considered when using this route for industrial purposes [3]. Given the complexity and drawbacks of the aforementioned processes, alternative routes are needed to achieve the required properties for optimal performance of the millimeter-sized spherical porous ceramics while minimizing the impact of the experimental conditions. Building upon the concept of \"integrative chemistry\" introduced by [PERSON] [28], [PERSON] et al. [29] proposed an innovative approach termed \"integrated gelling\", which involves the simultaneous gelation of both an inorganic framework (raw material) and a biopolymer by the sol-gel process and ion exchange-crosslinking, respectively. Based on this strategy, [PERSON] et al. [29] prepared millimeter-sized granules from a sodium alginate/boehmite suspension, followed by calcination to provide porous \(\gamma\)-Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) beads. Sodium alginate, a natural biopolymer extracted from seaweed [29; 30], is widely recognized for its use as gelling, emulsifying, and viscosifying additive in the food industry. It also finds applications in biomedical fields, such as for protein or cell encapsulation, drug delivery, and tissue engineering [29; 30; 31]. Sodium alginate is an ionic linear un branched chain consisting of polysaccharides, specifically \(\beta\)-(1-4)-D-mannuronic acid (M) and \(\alpha\)-(1-4)-L-guluronic acid (G) [30]. These units are arranged along the chain such that they form distinct sections of polymmannurate (M block), polyguluronate (G block), and alternating G and M regions (MG block) [30; 31]. The carboxyl group (COO') present in the monomer sections is bound to Na\({}^{+}\). The cross-linking property of the sodium alginate chain is essential in the integrated gelling method. In the presence of multivalent ions, such as Ca\({}^{2+}\), Ba\({}^{2+}\), Sr\({}^{2+}\), Al\({}^{3+}\), La\({}^{3+}\), and others [32], the Na\({}^{+}\) cations undergo ion exchange, resulting in the binding of functional monomers in the chain through COO\({}^{-}\) groups [29; 33]. Notably, the binding between G blocks (junction zones) is more pronounced, particularly when divalent ions such as Ca\({}^{2+}\), Ba\({}^{2+}\), and Sr\({}^{2+}\) are utilized. This results in the formation of structures commonly known as egg-box dimers [31; 32; 34]. Among these ions, the use of a Ca\({}^{2+}\) (aq) gelling bath is particularly highlighted due to its non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and ability to produce strong alginate-derived gels [32; 35]. Consequently, the integrated gelling method, based on the cross-linking of sodium alginate with a Ca\({}^{2+}\) (aq) gelling bath, constitutes a versatile patterning and encapsulation technique of solid networks.