Volta was the inventor of the voltaic pile, the first electrical battery. Circa 1800, Cruickshank invented the Trough battery, an improvement on Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile. The stack of cells is also known as a voltaic pile. Direct current was produced in 1800 by Italian physicist Alessandro Volta's battery, his Voltaic pile. He also used the voltaic pile to decompose chemicals and to produce new chemicals. Electrically, the machine worked like a voltaic pile, but was constructed completely differently. The voltaic pile replaced the goblets with cardboard soaked in brine. Galvani's friend, Alessandro Volta, continued researching the effect and invented the Voltaic pile in 1800. In 1880, Galvani's friend, Alessandro Volta, invented the Voltaic pile. By 1800 Alessandro Volta had developed the voltaic pile, a forerunner of the electric battery.