We report a novel method to exfoliate and disperse single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT)into organic and aqueous solutions. The method is based on treatment of single-wall carbon nanotubeswith a solution of hydroxylamine hydrochloric acid salt [(NH2OH)(HCl)] and does not require truncationof the tubes or surface adsorption of organic molecules. The solution dispersed tubes can easily beincorporated into an organic matrix in order to obtain a nanocomposite. We illustrate the method byforming PMMA−SWNT and PS−SWNT nanocomposites. 1% SWNT PMMA nanocomposite having a drawratio of ∼6 showed a dramatic 7× increase in the strain to fracture compared to fibers of similar drawratio made from pure PMMA.