On November 11, 2026, the kickoff seminar for the 2026 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) collaborative research project "Design of High Barrier Inner Tank Coating and Outer Self Repairing Epoxy Composite Materials and Their Application in Fourth Generation Hydrogen Storage Tanks" was successfully held at Sichuan Zhongzi Composite Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongzi Composite Materials"). The project is led by Sichuan University, with the participation of the Italian National Research Council Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (CNR-IPCB) and Zhongzi Composite Materials.

Luo Lin, director of Sichuan Science and Technology Exchange Center, Tu Xiaodong, assistant to the president of Sichuan Institute of Science and Technology Talents, Liu Quan, president of Chengdu New Materials Industry Research Institute, Chen Xi, director of the Integrated Management and International Exchange Office of the Institute of Science and Technology of Sichuan University, Xia Hesheng, a second-class professor of Sichuan University and deputy director of the National Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymer Materials, Professor Edoardo Bemporad, director of CNR-IPCB, and Chen Qizhang, chairman of SINOTECH attended the meeting.

At the meeting, Wang Yimin, Executive Vice General Manager of Zhongzi Composite Materials, and Professor Edoardo Bemporad, Director of CNR-IPCB, delivered speeches respectively.

Subsequently, Professor Xia Hesheng introduced the background of the NSFC-MAECI Sino Italian cooperation project, and Researcher Wang Zhanhua and Research Director Marino Lavorgna reported on the project's research content, objectives, and plan deployment. Both China and Italy, as well as Zhongzi Composite Materials, introduced their respective research foundations and team situations. The attending leaders put forward suggestions on project execution, interface management, and assessment indicators.

This project is aimed at the national hydrogen energy strategy and the key material bottleneck of the fourth generation 70MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage tank, focusing on two core directions: high barrier inner liner coating and outer self-healing recyclable epoxy composite materials.

The Sichuan University team has accumulated profound experience in dynamic cross-linking polymers, self-healing recyclable carbon fiber composite materials, and high barrier coatings, and has maintained close cooperation with CNR-IPCB for more than ten years; CNR-IPCB has an internationally leading platform in high barrier coating design, hydrogen permeation testing, and fine structure characterization.

As the main responsible unit for project four "Simulation design, automatic wire laying/winding processing and characterization of hydrogen storage tank components", Zhongzi Composite Materials undertakes engineering verification tasks such as wire bundle prepreg slitting, automatic wire laying/winding, vacuum curing, water pressure blasting, air tightness and cyclic pressure testing. It is a key link connecting material research and development with prototype tank verification. The company will strictly follow the project task book and tripartite agreement division of labor, allocate dedicated personnel, specialized equipment, and testing resources, and promote the efficient operation of the "design manufacturing testing feedback optimization" closed-loop.

This launch seminar marks the substantive implementation stage of cooperation between China and Italy in the field of key materials and engineering verification of fourth generation hydrogen storage tanks. In the future, Zhongzi Composite Materials will continue to deepen the collaboration between industry, academia, and research, enhance the design, manufacturing, and verification capabilities of composite material structural components, and expand to multiple scenarios such as vehicle mounted hydrogen storage cylinders, breathing gas cylinders, industrial gas cylinders, and high-pressure gas cylinders for aerospace use based on the derived technology of this project. This will form a virtuous cycle of "research and development verification industrialization multi scenario application", and help China's key materials for high-pressure gas cylinders to achieve independent controllability and high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry.