In this work, the synthesis and characterization of thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide (TrGO) as a novel base material for the generation of graphene-nanoparticle hybrid materials is reported. TrGO was directly synthesized by refluxing graphene oxide (GO) with phosphorus pentasulfide (P4S10). The introduction of sulfur containing chemical groups and the partial reduction of GO to TrGO were proven by UV-Vis, XPS and FTIR spectroscopy. CdSe nanocrystal-TrGO (CdSe-TrGO) as well as silver nanoparticle-TrGO (Ag-TrGO) hybrid materials are achieved by attachment of the respective nanoparticles to the thiol groups of the graphene using self-assembly decoration. The resulting hybrid materials were investigated by TEM and photoluminescence quenching experiments. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.