Retro-reflective plaster coatings after outdoor aging and soiling: an in-lab optical performance characterization

The potential benefits of highly reflective and retro-reflective (RR) materials on urban context have been performed by several studies through their optical characterization. During their lifetime, outdoor aging and soiling can affect the RR optical behaviour. To this aim, this study investigates the performance of RR plaster coatings after outdoor aging and soiling from May to October 2022 in Perugia, Italy. The same RR plaster coatings in pristine conditions were already characterized in lab in terms of optical performance. In particular, RR samples obtained by using glass beads with different diameters (i.e., 40 ÷ 70 μm and 70 ÷ 110 μm) distributed in three superficial density ranges (i.e., 0.30 ÷ 0.40 kg/m2, 0.20 ÷ 0.30 kg/m2 and 0.10 ÷ 0.20 kg/m2) have been investigated in this study through spectrophotometric and angular reflectivity analyses. In all cases, the post-aging RR samples exhibit lower global reflectance values with respect to the same RR samples in pristine condition. Concerning the angular reflection distribution analysis, a stronger relative RR component was found for the post-aging RR sample with an average diameter of 70 ÷ 110 µm and superficial density distribution equal to 0.10 ÷ 0.20 kg/m2 for each investigated incident direction.