Patent ID: 8039728

Claim:
A thermoelectric module for generating electrical energy from a hot gaseous heat source, said module comprising: a first glass-ceramic substrate having a cavity on one side thereof, a second glass-ceramic substrate having a plurality of first cavities on one side and a plurality of second cavities on the opposing side thereof, and a third glass-ceramic substrate having a plurality of cavities on one side thereof; ductile electrodes within said first glass-ceramic plurality of cavities and within said second glass-ceramic first plurality of cavities, the electrodes being in contact with each of said substrates, and one or a plurality of pairs of p- and n-type materials in contact with the electrodes of the first glass-ceramic substrate and the second glass-ceramic substrate; the second glass-ceramic substrate and the third glass-ceramic substrate are mated and joined together using a sealing agent to form a circuit for cooling water between the second and third substrate cavities; and electrical leads from said module to an electrical device; wherein when one side of the module is subjected to and in contact with a gaseous heat source, said heat source being at a temperature of up to 1000° C., and the other side of said module is subjected to cooling through the cooling circuit, electrical power is generated by conversion of heat energy from said hot gaseous heat source to electrical energy by heat transfer from said hot gaseous heat source to said pairs p- and n-type materials which thereby convert said heat energy to electrical energy; and wherein said glass-ceramic substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion of <10×10 −7 /° C. at temperatures in the range of 20-700° C.