Volta tried to make use of it all. He made experiments with (and tried out) rods of different kinds of metals, in wine carafes (a kind of bottle). This way, he found that the best metals to use, are silver and zinc. He could also make it better by using flat discs instead of rods of metal. This is because the discs have more surface area than the rod; this gives more "room" for the zinc ions to leave one disc and get in touch with the other.