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Biomass lignin, as a significant renewable resource, is one of the most abundant natural polymers in the world. Here, we report a novel silicon-based material, in which lignin-derived functional conformal network crosslinks the silicon nanoparticles via self-assembly. This newly-developed material could greatly solve the problems of large volume change during lithiation/delithiation process and the formation of unstable solid electrolyte interphase layers on the silicon surface. With this anode, the battery demonstrates a high capacity of ∼3000 mA h g−1, a highly stable cycling retention (∼89% after 100 cycles at 300 mA g−1) and an excellent rate capability (∼800 mA h g−1 at 9 A g−1). Moreover, the feasibility of full lithium-ion batteries with the novel silicon-based material would provide wide range of applications in the field of flexible energy storage systems for wearable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]