A comprehensive review on active self-luminous pavements: Materials, performance, and practical applications

Active self-luminous pavements (ASLP) achieve autonomous luminescence at night or in dark environments by incorporating long-afterglow materials. They offer advantages such as environmental friendliness, energy efficiency, and sustainability, which enable them to address the issue of insufficient nighttime road lighting effectively. Research on ASLP has been extensively carried out in laboratories. However, due to the significant differences between laboratory settings and real-world road environments, further exploration is required to evaluate the application and performance of ASLP in actual road engineering projects. Therefore, this paper reviews the latest research progress and application status of ASLP, comprehensively covering self-luminous mechanisms, luminous efficiency, and quantitative methods for brightness. In particular, it discusses and compares the applications, limitations, and performance-influencing factors of the widely studied and applied material SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+ in different pavements. The first systematic comparison of the comprehensive performance (luminescence efficiency, durability, cost, and applicability) of SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+in three mainstream pavement application formats (inorganic gel-based, polymer-based, and embedded). It provides a basis for engineering decision-making or material selection in engineering projects. Finally, this paper examines the future challenges in the development and application of ASLP, with the aim of providing valuable ideas and practical guidance for their implementation and promotion.