vattenfasen

Vattenfasen refers to the aqueous phase in a multiphase system, i.e., the portion of a liquid mixture that is predominantly water. It typically contains dissolved salts, ions and polar molecules, and often forms a distinct layer in contact with another phase, such as an organic solvent or a nonpolar liquid. In many chemical and environmental contexts, the vattenfasen is one of the phases in liquid–liquid or solid–water mixtures.

In two-phase liquid–liquid extraction, the water phase competes with the organic phase for solutes; the distribution of a solute between phases is described by the distribution coefficient D = C_organic / C_water. The properties of the aqueous phase, including pH and ionic strength, strongly influence solubility and speciation.

Physically, the vattenfasen is usually polar and supports hydrogen bonding; its density is close to that of pure water but can vary with dissolved solutes. It is important in fields such as environmental chemistry, where contaminants partition between water and organic phases, and in food science, where emulsions rely on a water-rich continuous phase. In geology and materials science, water-rich phases occur in porous media and hydrated minerals, affecting transport and reactions.

The term is common in Swedish and Norwegian scientific literature and is often translated as “aqueous phase” in English. Understanding the vattenfasen helps describe phase behavior, solute distribution, and reaction pathways in multiphase systems across chemistry, environmental science, and related disciplines.