USAXS and XPCS analysis of local compression and swelling dynamics in membrane fouling gels of porous nanoparticles (casein micelles)

This work is aimed at description of dynamics of compression and swelling of casein micelle gels obtained on a filtration membrane surface during a transmembrane pressure variation. It is foreseen 1) to measure compression and swelling kinetics (local concentration distribution) with the help of high space- and time-resolved SAXS in order to demonstrate and analyze, for the first time, the time dependency of fouling layer properties (local compression-permeability); 2) to study compression and fouling dynamics of casein micelle fouling layers by USAXS in order to find the reason of partial irreversibility of layer compression (correlate the irreversibility with a structure alteration); 3) to characterize dynamics of the layer structure by XPCS for a future development of alternative method for description of swelling and compression of soft colloidal gels with heterogeneous porosity. The measurements will be performed in upgraded SAXS-filtration cells.