The invention discloses a semi-metal material, namely a Te nanowire / graphene hydrogel composite material as well as a preparation method and application thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps: adding ammonium hydroxide and a reducing agent, namely a hydrazine hydrate solution, into a water solution of sodium tellurate and polyvinylpyrrolidone, performing uniform mixing, performing a hydrothermal synthesis reaction, performing cooling to room temperature, separating a reaction product so as to obtain precipitate, washing the precipitate to be neutral, performing drying and grinding so as to obtain Te nanowires, adding a graphene oxide suspension, performing uniform mixing, performing a hydrothermal synthesis reaction, removing excessive graphene oxide and Te nanowireswhich are not tightly compounded, and performing freeze drying, so as to obtain the composite material. The Te nanowire / graphene hydrogel composite material disclosed by the invention is simple in preparation method, has photocatalysis sterilization and photo-thermal conversion performance, thermocatalytic sterilization can be promoted through a photo-thermal synergetic function, the inactivationratio is 70-100%, no chemical reagent is additionally used, and the problem of secondary pollution of a byproduct of a conventional sterilization technique can be effectively solved.