The invention discloses porous zinc oxide nano powder and a preparation method thereof. The method comprises the following steps: firstly, zinc nitrate hexahydrate is dissolved in anhydrous ethanol or deionized water, added with PEG 400 under the condition of magnetic stirring and uniformly mixed; secondly, ammonium bicarbonate is dissolved in the deionized water or the anhydrous ethanol; thirdly, the mol ratio of the zinc nitrate to the ammonium bicarbonate is 1 to 2.5, and a zinc nitrate ethanol solution or a zinc nitrate water solution is dripped into the deionized water and/or an anhydrous ethanol solution of the ammonium bicarbonate, and then precursor is obtained; fourthly, the precursor is washed by an ammonium bicarbonate water solution after centrifugal separation, washed by the anhydrous ethanol, dried, added with n-butylalcohol, uniformly dispersed and then refluxed for 1 to 2 hours at a temperature of between 115 and 120 DEG C, the n-butylalcohol is recovered by vacuum distillation, and the porous zinc oxide nano powder is prepared by utilization of afterheat to dry solid by distillation. The particle diameter of the porous zinc oxide nano powder is between 10 and 250 nanometers; the inside of a nano particle has a porous structure; and the aperture of an inner hole of the particle is between 5 and 120 nanometers.