The unique properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT), more specifically, single walled carbone nanotubes (SWNT), have made them excellent candidates for applications in bio-sensing, fuel cells, and nanofabrication. Considerable research effort has been devoted to development of methods to achieve stable suspensions of highly dispersed CNTs. However, progress has been impeded by two major hurdles. FIrst, their poor solubility in both aqueous and organic solvents makes them difficult to manipulate and functionalize. Second, CNTs are generally formed as heterogenous mixtures of metallic and semiconducting tubes with varying chiralities. To separate and purify the different forms of CNTs in a sample, they must first be solubilized in an appropriate medium. This invention is directed to a reversible, thermoresponsive gel with unique properties.The solution phase exists below room temperature, the gel exists at and above room temperature, and higher temperature melting occurs above 40-50C. This unique inverse thermal dependence makes this gel ideal for encapsulation of heat-sensitive components such as living cells or enzymes. Such components can be added to the solution at low temperature for homogeneous distribution and then raised to room or body temperature for gelation into, for example, drug delivery devices, artificial cells, artificial tissues, artificial organs, or bioreactors for medical use or environmental bioremediation. Additionally, the binary gels exhibit unique properties that make them highly effective for SWNT dispersion, offering the potential for rapid, non-destructive, and reversible solubilization with chiral selectivity that favors semi-conducting over metallic SWNTs.Nanocomponents such as CNTs or CNT-biological hybrids could be dispersed and stored in the solutions at low temperatures and then immobilized in the gels for use at higher temperatures.