Study on Patent Specifications Filed Across Industries Regarding Concrete Carbonation

Deterioration mechanisms such as alkali–aggregate reaction, chloride attack, and carbonation significantly affect the quality and durability of concrete. To address these issues, Japanese companies and organizations have undertaken a variety of initiatives. While numerous proposals and recommendations have been made in academia and disclosed through publications such as research papers, the trends in technological development within the industrial sector remain largely unexplored. This study analyzes technologies aimed at mitigating concrete carbonation by examining patent information, with the goal of clarifying industrial development trends. The findings reveal eight key insights: 1) the construction, cement, and chemical industries are actively engaged in addressing concrete carbonation; 2) industries that began filing patent applications early have made substantial contributions to problem-solving; 3) there is strong demand for technologies that prevent carbonation, enable mending or reinforcement, and facilitate deterioration assessment and diagnosis; 4) the chemical and paint industries are particularly active in specific technical domains; 5) technologies related to “Mending and Reinforcement” and “Survey and Deterioration Diagnosis,” which have seen increasing patent activity in recent years, are expected to be developed primarily by the mending industry and research institutes; 6) for the technologies examined in this study, changes in patent fees have minimal impact on patent duration; 7) technologies involving admixtures and binding materials tend to have longer lifespans; and 8) there are notable differences in technology life expectancy depending on the intended purpose.