A polyelectrolyte membrane with anti-ultraviolet, anti-fouling, and antibacterial abilities was prepared using trimethyl quaternary ammonium salt grafting lignin (QAL) and polystyrene (PS) at different ratios. Contact angle measurements indicated that the addition of QAL into the PS blending membrane altered the hydrophilicity by trimethyl quaternary ammonium groups and phenolic hydroxyl groups of QAL. Furthermore, the phenylpropane structural unit in the lignin formed double bonds by conjugating with carbonyl groups and formed p-pi by conjugating with phenolic hydroxyl of side chains. For this reason, the produced composite membranes displayed high potential and commercial importance for absorbing ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet transmission values of all the PS/QAL blending membranes were close to zero ranging from 200 to 400 nm. The QAL(5)-PS membrane had less variation in the gas transmission rate (-6.388 cm(3)/m(2)/day/atm) than that of PS membrane (-32.9 cm(3)/m(2)/day/atm) after 5 circles of bovine serum albumin (BSA) fouling. The inhibition zone of the QAL(5)-PS membrane was 10.4 +/- 0.06 mm, and almost zero for the neat PS membrane, indicating a much better antibacterial performance of the QAL-PS composite membranes than that of pure PS membranes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.