Pavement marking, reflective elements, and methods of making micospheres
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsMatthew H. Frey, Anatoly Z. Rosenflanz, Kenton D. Budd
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Abstract
Presently described are retroreflective articles, such as pavement markings, that comprise transparent microspheres partially embedded in a (e.g. polymeric) binder. Also described are (e.g. glass-ceramic) microspheres, methods of making microspheres, as well as compositions of glass materials and compositions of glass-ceramic materials. The microspheres generally comprise lanthanide series oxide(s), titanium oxide (TiO2), and optionally zirconium oxide (ZrO2).
Claims17
A method of marking a pavement surface comprising:
- providing a pavement surface;
- and
- applying a pavement marking on the pavement surface, wherein the pavement marking comprises transparent microspheres at least partially embedded in a binder wherein at least a portion of the micropheres have an index of refraction of at least 2.10 and comprise
- at least 40 wt-% TiO2;
- at least 10 wt-% La2O3;
- and
- wherein the microspheres of the portion comprise 5 wt-% to 15 wt-% of at least one metal oxide selected from ZrO2,HfO2, ThO2 , and mixtures thereof.
A method of marking a pavement surface comprising:
- providing a pavement surface;
- and
- applying a retroreflective pavement marking on the pavement surface, wherein the pavement marking comprises transparent microspheres at least partially embedded in a binder;
- wherein at least a portion of the micropheres have an index of refraction of at least 2.10;
- and comprise at least 50 mol-% TiO2 and at least 5 mol-% Y2O3.
A method of marking a pavement surface comprising:
- providing a pavement surface;
- and
- applying a retroreflective pavement marking on the pavement surface, wherein the pavement marking comprises transparent microspheres at least partially embedded in a binder wherein at least a portion the micropheres have an index of refraction of at least 2.10, and comprise 70 mol-% to 82 mol-% TiO2 , and 15 mol-% to 22 mol-% of one or more metal oxides selected from oxides of the lanthanide series elements and 4 mol-% to 8 mol-% of at least one metal oxide selected from ZrO2, HfO2, ThO2, and mixtures thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.