Communications - Scientific letters of the University of Zilina X:X | DOI: 10.26552/com.C.2026.007

Enhancing Visibility and Safety of Thermoplastic Road Markings with Phosphorus Additives and Rosin Ester Binder

M. Isya ORCID..., Cut Mutiawati ORCID...*, Fadhlullah Apriandy ORCID..., Hadhrat Alfajri
Department of Civil Engineering, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Road markings are essential traffic control devices that guide drivers, particularly at night and under adverse weather conditions common in tropical regions. In this study is investigated the performance of thermoplastic road markings enhanced with phosphorescent phosphorus using rosin ester as a binder. Laboratory experiments with varying phosphorus concentrations were conducted to evaluate luminance, retroreflectivity, and skid resistance under dry and wet conditions. The results show that a 30% phosphorus content provides the best overall performance by improving the nighttime visibility and retroreflective properties without compromising the skid resistance. All measured parameters comply with the Indonesian SKh-1.M-03 road marking standard. The proposed material demonstrates strong potential to enhance the road marking visibility and driving safety in tropical environments.

Keywords: thermoplastic road marking, phosphorus additive, rosin ester, retroreflectivity, driving visibility, skid resistance
Grants and funding:

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Received: July 8, 2025; Accepted: January 7, 2026; Prepublished online: January 7, 2026 

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