In order to explore one truly green and environment-friendly gel polymer electrolyte (GPE), the natural biopolymer of lignin is firstly all over the world used as matrix to prepare GPE. The electrolyte membrane based on lignin can be easily fabricated just with lignin, liquid electrolyte and distilled water. Through comprehensive investigation of obtained GPE, it is found that the liquid electrolyte uptake reaches up to 230 wt.%; before 100 degrees C, GPE does not lose any weight and is thermal stable; at room temperature the ion conductivity is 3.73 mS cm(-1); the amazing property of lithium ion transference number is high up to 0.85; GPE expresses complete electrochemical stability before 7.5 V and favorable compatibility with lithium anode; the outstanding cell performance of C-rate and cycle capacity. All these remarkably excellent performances endow lignin with application potential in GPE used in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with higher performances. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.