The living supramolecular polymerization technique provides an exciting research avenue. However, in comparison with the thermodynamic spontaneous nucleation, using simple monomers to realize living supramolecular polymerization is hardly possible from an energy principle. This is because the activation barrier of kinetically trapped simple monomer (nucleation step) is insufficiently high to control the kinetics of subsequent elongation. Here, with the benefit of the confinement from the layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanomaterial, various simple monomers, (such as benzene, naphthalene and pyrene derivatives) successfully form living supramolecular polymer (LSP) with length control and narrow dispersity. The degree of polymerization can reach ~6000. Kinetics studies reveal LDH overcomes a huge energy barrier to inhibit undesired spontaneous nucleation of monomers and disassembly of metastable states. The universality of this strategy will usher exploration into other multifunctional molecules and promote the development of functional LSP.

活性超分子聚合技术提供了令人兴奋的研究途径。但是，与热力学自发成核相比，从能量原理出发，几乎不可能使用简单的单体来实现活性超分子聚合。这是因为在动力学上被捕获的简单单体（成核步骤）的激活势垒不够高，无法控制后续伸长的动力学。在这里，受益于层状双氢氧化物（LDH）纳米材料的限制，各种简单的单体（例如苯，萘和pyr衍生物）成功地形成了具有长度控制和窄分散性的活性超分子聚合物（LSP）。聚合度可以达到约6000。动力学研究表明，LDH克服了巨大的能垒，可以抑制不希望的单体自发成核和亚稳态分解。该策略的普遍性将带动对其他多功能分子的探索，并促进功能性LSP的发展。