Surface energy

In surface science, surface energy quantifies the disruption of intermolecular bonds that occurs when a surface is created. In solid-state physics, surfaces must be intrinsically less energetically favorable than the bulk of the material, otherwise there would be a driving force for surfaces to be created, removing the bulk of the material by sublimation. The surface energy may therefore be defined as the excess energy at the surface of a material compared to the bulk, or it is the work required to build an area of a particular surface.

Another way to view the surface energy is to relate it to the work required to cut a bulk sample, creating two surfaces.
There is "excess energy" as a result of the now-incomplete, unrealized bonding between the two created surfaces.

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Source: Wikipedia · Image: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0