TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method comprises applying a catalytic material to the shaped unit, where the catalytic material comprises a metal, metal compound or a zeolite, and the metal is applied to the shaped unit by metal vapor deposition or the metal, metal compound or zeolite is applied to the shaped unit from a solution or dispersion of the metal, metal compound or zeolite. The additive layer method comprises a 3-dimensional printing, a stereolithographic or a laser sintering technique. The powder in each layer is fused by a laser, and bound together with a binder, where the binder is an inorganic binder or an organic binder. In the method, a burnout additive is included in the catalyst powder or binder to control the porosity of the resulting shaped unit. The shaped unit is subjected to a heating step, and comprising at least one reducible metal compounds, is subjected to a reduction step, where the reducing step is performed by exposing the shaped unit to a hydrogen-containing gas stream at 150-800 degrees C. The reduced metal in the shaped unit are passivated by controlled exposure of the shaped unit to an oxygen-containing gas stream to form a passivating layer on the reduced metal. The shaped unit is a wire-frame structure or a skeletal framework containing a void space within which may have multiple internal strengthening rods. Preferred Components: The powdered material is a catalyst powder. The catalyst powder comprises: a metal powder or a powdered metal compound; at least one metals or metal compounds containing metals including sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, barium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, ruthenium, rhodium, lead, silver, tin, antimony, lanthanum, hafnium, tungsten, rhenium, iridium, platinum, gold, palladium, or cerium; a precious metal catalyst powder comprising at least one of platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium or rhenium; a transition metal compound comprising a metal oxide, metal hydroxide, metal carbonate, and/or metal hydroxycarbonate, where the transition metal oxide comprises a single or mixed metal oxide or a composition comprising at least two transition metal oxides; and a zeolite. The catalyst powder further comprises at least one inert material, where the inert material is alumina, silica, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and/or carbon; and comprises a zeolite. The powdered material is a catalyst support powder, which comprises: at least one inert materials; at least one transition metal compounds, including lanthanide metal compounds and actinide metal compounds, comprising at least one metal oxides, metal hydroxides, metal carbonates, and/or metal hydroxycarbonates; alumina, metal-aluminate, silica, alumino-silicate, titania, zirconia, and/or zinc oxide; metal powder, which comprises a precious metal powder or a non-precious metal powder, where the non-precious metal powder comprises a ferritic alloy or steel; and zeolite. The powdered material has an average particle size (D50) of 1-200 mu m. EXAMPLE - Un-modified alumina powder ( approximately 10 mu average size) was employed and the build was accomplished using steps of approximately 100 mu , with compression of each new powder layer prior to laser melting. The fiber laser (300 W) was used to melt the alumina along the tracks driven by the standard software. As built, the parts were fragile and were removed from the powder bed with care, and increased strength was achieved by post-build sintering up to 1800 degrees C, to obtain dodecahedral frame structure.