We developed hydrogen iodide (HI) reduction of rGO and surfactant-assisted chemical reaction- deposition method to form hybrid material of sulfur (S) encapsulated in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets for rechargeable lithium batteries. The surfactant-assisted chemical reaction deposition method strategy provides intimate contact between the Sand graphene oxide. Chemical reduced rGO with high conductivity as carbon coating layer prevented the dissolution of polysulfide ions and improved the electron transfer. This novel core-shell structured S@rGO composites with high S content showed high reversible capacity, good discharge capacity retention and enhanced rate capability used as cathodes in rechargeable Li/S cells. We demonstrated here that an electrode prepared from a S@FGO with up to 85 wt%S maintains a stable discharge capacity of about 980 mAh g(-1) at 0.05 C and 570 mAh g(-1) at 1C after 200 cycles charge/discharge. These results emphasize the importance of rGO with high electrical conductivity after HI-reduced rGO homogeneously coating on the surface of S, therefore, effectively alleviating the shuttle phenomenon of polysulfides in organic electrolyte. Our surfactant-assisted chemical reaction-HI reduction approach should offer a new technique for the design and synthesis of battery electrodes based on highly conducting carbon materials. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.