[Objective] To study the antibacterial activities of Ag/nano-ZnO compound powder, to overcome color degradation of Ag and improve dispersing ability in non aqueous media. [Methods] X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to measure the characteristics of Ag/nano-ZnO composites. [Results] It was found that for nano-ZnO, the antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli evaluated by measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were 400 mg/l. But for Ag/nano-ZnO compound powder, the MIC results were 75 mg/L. Meanwhile, the chromatism and the lipophilic degree of Ag/nano-ZnO compound powder were 9.85 and 0, but for modified Ag/nano-ZnO compound powder, the results were 0.88 and 54.5% respectively. [Conclusions] characteristics of nano-ZnO doped with Ag were better than that of nano-ZnO, the dispersing ability of Ag/nano-ZnO in non aqueous media was improved by covering a thin film of sodium laurate.