The incorporation of two or more active components onto graphene with uniform distribution is expected to facilitate wider applications of graphene-based materials. In this study, a three-component composite composed of reduced graphene oxide (RGO), CeO2 and Ag nanoparticles was designed and synthesized by a facile and environmentally friendly strategy for the first time. It is shown that Ag and CeO2 nanopartides are uniformly deposited on the surface of RGO sheets. The catalytic properties of the RGO/Ag/CeO2 ternary hybrid nanomaterials were evaluated with the reduction of p-nitrophenol by NaBH4 as a model reaction. The results reveal that the presence of CeO2 not only has a great influence on the size of the Ag nanoparticles formed on RGO, but also can significantly improve the catalytic activity and stability of them. Possible mechanisms for the reduced size of Ag nanoparticles and the enhanced catalytic performance of RGO/Ag nanocomposites after combining with CeO2 were proposed. The facile synthesis of RGO/Ag/CeO2 nanomaterials together with their superior catalytic performance provides a potentially new approach for the design and construction of graphene-based ternary nanostructured composites with various functions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.