Lignin-based carbon nanomaterials (LCN) were prepared from alkaline lignin (AL) by hydrolysis, spray drying and high temperature treatment. Then, the physical and chemical structures of LCN were analyzed by SEM, BET, organic element analyzer, FTIR, Raman, UV–vis and XPS. The results showed that the yield of LCN was 26.34% of the mass of AL. The particle size of LCN was 120–350 nm, and three to seven particles with diameter of 40–100 nm are accumulated. Its specific surface area was 374.74 m2/g with the average pore size of 4.79 nm. The ratio of sp2 to sp3 was 1.39 and the band gap was 3.42 eV. The simplified apparent formula of LCN was C2121H4O with an unsaturation of 20, containing C–C, C=C, C–O, O=C–O and C–H groups. The chemical structure model of LCN was constructed by Chem 3D software. Therefore, this study successfully prepared a special material and analyzed its physical and chemical structure, which was conducive to the structural analysis of carbon nano-materials.