The invention discloses a preparation method of a graphene-ZnO nanoparticle composite material. The preparation method comprises the following steps: step 1): dissolving raw materials, namely graphene oxide and zinc salt, in water according to a certain mass ratio and uniformly mixing; step 2): separating the graphene oxide from the well mixed liquid, obtained in the step 1, by centrifugation or suction filtration and washing with water or alcohol; and step 3) performing heat treatment on the product, obtained in the step 2, in air or oxygen to get the graphene-ZnO nanoparticle composite material, wherein the zinc salt is one of zinc fluoride, zinc chloride, zinc bromide, zinc sulfate, zinc nitrate, zinc acetate and zinc phosphate, the heat treatment temperature is 150-1000 DEG C, and the heat treatment time is 5s-10h. The preparation method disclosed by the invention is simple, green and environment-friendly, and can effectively reduce the use of chemical reagents.