The Daniell cell was invented by John Frederic Daniell in 1836. He was a British meteorologist and chemist who was looking to eliminate the voltaic pile’s hydrogen bubble issue and determined that zinc sulphate or sulphuric acid could be used to consume the hydrogen produced by the battery. His electrochemical cell consisted of an unglazed earthenware pot filled with zinc sulphate or sulphuric acid and a zinc electrode. Chemical reactions resulting from the corroding zinc produced electrical energy.
The Daniell cell is famously noted for providing the contemporary definition of a volt. The standard emf of a Daniell cell is 1.10v. Daniell Cells are versatile as they can be used to both generate and store the electrical energy produced as a result of the chemical reactions. They have been widely used in the development of batteries and electrical telegraphy.
In the 1860s, a Frenchman named Monsieur Callaud created a variation on the Daniell cell which he called a crow’s foot cell. This cell consisted of a glass jar which contained a copper star shaped electrode, a crow’s foot shaped zinc electrode (which provided the name of the cell) and a mixture of water and copper sulphate. It produced approximately 1 volt.