John Frederic Daniell, a British chemist and meteorologist, the first professor of chemistry at King's College London, presents in 1836 to the Royal Society a new electrochemical cell design that solves the main defect of Volta's voltaic pile: polarization, that is, the buildup of hydrogen bubbles on the copper electrode that caused a rapid, progressive drop in voltage. The Daniell cell separates two electrolytes — copper sulfate and zinc sulfate — with a porous barrier, thereby maintaining a stable, constant electric current over extended periods. The final development of the design took Daniell roughly a decade of work, with documented influence from Michael Faraday and William Snow Harris in his scientific correspondence. The cell proves decisive for the development of electric telegraphy and experimental research in electricity for the rest of the 19th century; Daniell received the Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1837 for it, its highest honor.