Patent ID: 7575794

Claim:
A cordierite honeycomb body having: honeycomb channel walls of 25 μm-100 μm thickness, a mean ceramic pore size not exceeding 5 μm; an average coefficient of thermal expansion in the range of 16-20×10 −7 /° C. over the temperature range 25-800° C.; a strain tolerance (MOR/E) greater than 10 −3 ; wherein said cordierite honeycomb is made by a method comprising the steps of: a) mixing fine-particle-size cordierite powder with a liquid vehicle and at least one organic additive selected from the group consisting of binders, lubricants, surfactants and pore-formers to form a plastic batch mixture; b) forming the plastic batch mixture into a honeycomb shape and drying the honeycomb shape; and c) firing the honeycomb shape at a temperature and for a time sufficient to sinter the cordierite powder into a strong unitary cordierite body but insufficient to develop cordierite crystal domains exhibiting a preferred orientation and the body being substantially devoid of microcracking and having a cordierite crystallite mean grain size that does not exceed 30 μm.