## 1 Introduction  
Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma is a type of electrical discharge that occurs between two electrodes separated by an insulating dielectric barrier. This methodology is particularly effective in producing non-thermal plasmas, which can be generated under atmospheric pressure [1]. The dielectric barrier is a solid material that can prevent the formation of a continuous arc discharge and promote the creation of micro discharges [2]. Unlike thermal plasmas, DBD plasma works at low temperatures, making it a suitable device for applications involving heat-sensitive materials [3]. DBD plasma is cost-effective compared to other types of plasma because it does not require expensive vacuum systems since it can be generated under ambient conditions [4]. The high-energy electrons in DBD plasma can initiate various chemical reactions while keeping the bulk gas at low temperatures, making it an efficient tool for numerous applications. DBD plasma finds use across various fields, including industry, environmental science, and biotechnology. It is widely used for ozone generation in water treatment, air purification, and pollution control, particularly for removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [5]. Industrial uses include food packaging, medical equipment sterilization, and the synthesis of chemicals such as nanoparticles. For example, DBD plasma has been used to modify mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) to create a dual pH and temperature-responsive drug delivery system [6]. Additionally, it has been employed in energy-efficient polymerization processes, such as those involving acrylic acid [7], polyaniline [8], and solid D-ribose [9], without the need for external initiators. Furthermore, DBD plasma has been used to synthesize conductive paper hybrids by polymerizing bithiophene monomer directly into paper [10]. In environmental applications, DBD plasma plays a crucial role in wastewater treatment, including the degradation of perfluorocontanoic acid, a known groundwater pollutant [11]. In biological systems, it has been used to enhance cell transfection [12] and promote wound healing [13]. Recently, DBD plasma has been shown to be a time-efficient method for synthesizing molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), which demonstrates enhanced selectivity compared to traditional methods [14]. Additionally,DBD plasma has been employed in decomposing sugars, polymerizing conductive materials, and modifying polymers for rapid and selective lithium-ion separation in the battery industry [15, 16]. DBD plasma applications also extend to engineering fields, including flow control and ice mitigation [17, 18, 19, 20]. Despite its wide range of applications [21, 22, 23], it is not commonly used in the polymerization process. In our previous work, we demonstrated that DBD plasma could initiate the radical polymerization of monomers within porous materials, such as cellulose paper, creating paper-based electronics [10] and water-absorbing papers [7]. In this study, we extend our exploration of DBD plasma for its environmental applications in porous materials. Poly (styrene sulfonate) (PSS) is a synthetic polymer [24] produced by either the sulfonation of polystyrene or the polymerization of sodium 4-styrenesulfonate (NaSS) [25, 26]. Its structure consists of a polystyrene backbone with sulfonate groups attached to the benzene rings, giving PSS its anionic polyelectrolyte properties [27, 28, 29, 30]. PSS has numerous industrial and biomedical applications [31], including its use in ion-exchange resins, dispersants, stabilizers, and as a sizing and finishing agent in the paper and textile industry, etc. [32, 33, 34]. Its ability to remove ions from solutions makes it valuable in water softening and purification processes. We hypothesized that doping porous materials with PSS could create materials capable of removing toxic chemicals for environmental applications. Traditional methods for synthesizing PSS on porous materials, however, pose challenges.