Development of biobased, sustainable and environmentally friendly glycerol ester rosins for the production of thermoplastic road marking paint

In recent years, natural rosin derivatives have gained significant importance in the production of sustainable bio-based materials, including thermoplastic road marking paint (TRMP). This study evaluates the use of sustainable natural glycerol ester rosins as bio-based binders in TRMP formulations, specifically focusing on pine, wood, and tall oil rosins. Various analytical techniques, such as FT-IR, TGA, MALDI-TOF-MS and GPC-HPLC, were utilized to analyze both unmodified and glycerol ester rosins. Standard tests, including acid number (mg KOH/g) ASTM D 465-05 and softening point (°C) ASTM E 28-99, were also conducted on the samples. The optimum synthesis conditions for glycerol ester rosins (GER) were determined as follows: a rosin/glycerol molar ratio of 2.54, catalyst/rosin weight ratio of 0.5%, and antioxidant/rosin weight ratio of 1.0%. GPC-HPLC analysis revealed average esterification reaction yields of over 90.85%. Furthermore, TRMPs underwent various tests, including gloss factor (β), chromaticity coordinates (x, y), UVB aging, and softening point (°C). The results demonstrated that GERs exhibited superior performance, especially in the UVB aging test, with all TRMPs classified as UV1 type. These findings highlight the promising potential of GERs derived from different types of rosins in producing sustainable, environmentally friendly, and bio-based next-generation TRMPs.