AFM‐Quantified Adhesion Energy Describes Bubble‐Mediated Mass Transport on Gas‐Evolving Electrodes

ABSTRACT

Mass transport at three‐phase interfaces is a primary bottleneck for industrial gas‐evolving electrodes due to severe bubble coverage and suppressed liquid renewal. Here, we establish the interfacial work of adhesion (Δ G _ad )—quantified via spherical‐tip AFM nanoindentation—as a predictive nanoscale descriptor of surface energetics under ambient conditions. Δ G _ad captures the thermodynamic competition between electrolyte wetting and gas adhesion at the solid surface, thereby governing bubble‐mediated mass transport. Using model MoS ₂ electrodes, we show that vertical structuring and phase engineering (V _hetero ‐MoS ₂ ) significantly increase the AFM‐quantified Δ G _ad . This heightened Δ G _ad strengthens the solid‐electrolyte affinity, effectively suppressing gas adhesion and reducing bubble blockage. In situ Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and pseudopotential simulations consistently show that surfaces with higher Δ G _ad yield smaller bubbles and enhanced interfacial renewal. Accordingly, the apparent aerophobicity follows from stronger electrolyte affinity via interfacial energy competition. Using hydrogen evolution as a representative gas‐evolving reaction, the V _hetero ‐MoS ₂ electrode sustains stable hydrogen evolution at 1000 mA cm ^{− 2} . This work provides a unified energetic framework for three‐phase interface engineering, establishing Δ G _ad as a quantifiable, AFM‐accessible metric for the rational design of high‐performance gas‐evolving electrodes.