Mechanical-vibration-induced supercooling suppression enables facile phase transition of liquid metal

• A vibration-assisted strategy is developed to suppress supercooling and accelerate phase transitions in liquid gallium phase change materials (PCMs). Vibration-induced dynamic surface renewal lowers effective interfacial energy and promotes rapid, uniform nucleation. • Modulated mechanical vibration combined with Cu microparticle nucleation reduces supercooling to <2°C and enables complete phase transition within 2 s . • The approach enables rapid thermal cycling and dynamic stiffness control in heat dissipation modules and adaptable grippers. This work establishes a scalable pathway for high-performance Ga-based PCMs in thermal management, stretchable electronics, and soft robotics. Liquid gallium (Ga) has emerged as a promising phase change material (PCM) for additive manufacturing, enhanced heat transfer, and energy storage due to its low melting point, high thermal conductivity and latent heat. However, the applications of liquid Ga in thermal management systems are hampered by their pronounced supercooling and delayed phase transition processes. Here, we propose a hybrid strategy by applying modulated mechanical vibration to liquid Ga to achieve rapid phase transition. A tailored needle with mechanical vibration of 1 mm amplitude and 20 Hz frequency is applied to the liquid Ga, facilitating heat transfer uniformity and dynamically surface renewal, accelerating the phase transition. Moreover, the introduction of Cu microparticles, serving as heterogeneous nucleation sites inside, effectively reduces interfacial energy and suppresses supercooling. This novel approach reduces supercooling to below 2°C and decreases the complete phase transition time to less than 2 s. Harnessing the outstanding performance of this strategy, a heat dissipation module and an adaptable gripper are further developed, realising rapid thermal cycling, dynamic stiffness control and desired grasping performance. This work provides a strong pathway for the development of efficient thermal management systems in electronics, robotics, and energy storage applications.