Nacre-like ceramic composites are of importance in a wide range of applications, because of their mechanical properties, combining high mechanical strength and high fracture toughness. Those mechanical properties are the result of strongly aligned platelets glued in a matrix. Different methods exist to shape such 'brick-and-mortar' hierarchical structure. In this paper, it is proposed to use the phenomenon of heteroaggregation between silica nanoparticles and large alumina platelets. Experimental and numerical results show that silica nanoparticles can adsorb on alumina platelets with a good distribution. This adsorption promotes the deagglomeration of alumina which can self-organize in layers by sedimentation. This phenomenon can be exploited to shape alumina-silica nacre-like composites.

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