Abstract

This research, being the first research in the literature, investigates use of urea-formaldehyde, a widely used polymer, as a binder in producing diatomite-based lightweight building elements. Urea-formaldehyde and ground diatomite of granular size under 500 microns were blended at ratios of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50% by volume and fired at temperatures ranging from 80 to 140°C  to obtain test samples. Compressive strengths and unit weights of samples were taken as basic evaluation criteria. Unit weights of the samples ranged from 0.43 to 0.74 g/cm³ and compressive strengths did from 0.1 to 4.3 N/mm². The optimum values were obtained for the samples with 40% ratio being 0.7 g/cm³ for the unit weight and 3.7 N/mm² for the compressive strength.

Key words: Diatomite, lightweight building element, binder, urea-formaldehyde, aggregate.