Abstract: The present invention relates to porous articles, including porous ceramic materials, which can be used in a variety of settings, but find particular use in connection with electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, as well as methods of their manufacture and use. The porous ceramic may have, in some aspects of the invention, an average pore size of between about 1 micrometer and about 300 micrometers, and in some cases, certain advantageous permeability characteristics with respect to species useful in certain types of electrochemical devices. In some cases, the ceramic may be sufficiently porous to allow gaseous molecules (e.g., air or oxygen, gaseous fuels, etc.) and/or liquids (e.g., water or liquid fuels) to be transported therethrough, and/or the ceramic may be substantially resistive or impermeable to a liquid such as a non-wetting liquid, for instance, a liquid metal such as liquid (molten) tin.