Zitolo, who was born in the Province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, grew up in Ladispoli, a seaside city that is currently part of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. After his diploma at the Liceo Scientifico Sandro Pertini, he started his studies at Sapienza University of Rome. He graduated in chemistry with a specialization in physical chemistry and top marks (110 cum laude/110). At the same university, he obtained his PhD in Chemical Sciences with a thesis on “Structural investigation of lanthanoid coordination: a combined XAS and Molecular Dynamics study” and he started his career as researcher.
Years after, he moved to Paris, to work at the Synchrotron Soleil, where he is currently employed as scientist. Italian press said he moved to France "in order to revolution the world of low-cost energy".[2] On 2020 he obtained a Agence nationale de la recherche grant to start and coordinate “Spectroscope”,[3] an operando X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) study of novel non-precious metal electrocatalysts.
His pioneering research[5] interest focuses on the application of x ray absorption spectroscopy in understanding the structure and properties of fuel cell catalysts.[6][7][8]
On 2016, among other Italian celebrities, he served as Testimonial for the World Water Day campaign of the Green Cross, advocating on the need of saving and protecting natural resources such as Water and showing their importance for the advancement of Science.[10]
Sensitive to the issues related to the transformation of the Higher-Education System and Research, consequently affecting the evolution of young researchers' career in STEM, he highlights the need of bridging the gap between institutions and investigators to answer to the new claims and needs of young scientists.[11][12][13]
