An efficient long-term storage of cryogenic pro-1 pellants is a challenge for future space exploration missions. 2The vapour bubbles formed as a result of boil-off in the tank 3 walls can generate foam structures, which could be hazardous 4 in different operations in orbit. A recently proposed approach 5 to control the dynamics of bubbles is based on the generation 6 of an acoustic field by means of a piezoelectric transducer.7This technology needs to be validated at cryogenic tempera-8 tures in order to be applicable in space. In this perspective, 9 different piezoelectric elements and matching layer materials 10 have been tested at cryogenic temperatures to assess their 11 performance at such environmental conditions. We consider 12 the use of soft PZT piezoceramics coupled with an epoxy 13 resin as the matching layer. Experimental data reveal that 14 epoxy resin-based acoustic matching layers exhibit a linear 15 increase in the transmittance of the acoustic amplitude at 16 cryogenic conditions. The peak-to-peak amplitude increases 17 as temperature decreases up to a factor of 1.6. This result 18 opens the possibility of generating and transmitting acoustic 19 waves at cryogenic temperatures, which could be used in 20 the recently proposed technology to control the dynamics of 21 vapour bubbles in cryogenic fuel tanks.
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