The mesoporous silica DAM-1 (Dallas Amorphous Material) has been synthesized in the presence of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) using vitamin E TPGS as the template. It is proposed that this water soluble version of vitamin E wraps and partially debundles the SWNTs en route to partial encapsulation within the DAM-1 particles. XRD, adsorption, SEM and TEM provide evidence for occlusion of the nanotubes. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.