Multiscale synergistic governance mechanisms and technological innovations for mixed air pollutants

Abstract Atmospheric pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and ozone (O3) pose serious threats to health and ecological systems. As air pollution evolves toward multi-pollutant coexistence, synergistic control strategies have become increasingly important. This review systematically summarizes and compares three representative synergistic systems: VOCs–NOx, VOCs–O3, and multi-component VOCs. For VOCs–NOx system, the key findings highlight the dominant role of coupled redox catalytic mechanisms, strongly governed by catalyst composition, active-site regulation, and reaction conditions. Synergistic VOCs–O3 removal is mainly achieved through photocatalytic and O3-assisted pathways, where interfacial charge transfer and reactive oxygen species generation are critical. In complex multi-component VOC systems, integrated catalytic strategies are required to address competitive adsorption and reaction coupling, giving rise to both synergistic and inhibitory effects. Distinct from previous surveys, this review offers a unified mechanistic framework to compare these systems, emphasizes multi-scale catalyst design principles, and elucidates competitive–synergistic behaviors in realistic mixed-pollutant environments. Remaining challenges include catalyst stability, selectivity, and efficiency under multi-pollutant conditions. Future research should focus on rational catalyst design, system-level optimization, and scalable engineering implementation to advance effective synergistic air pollution control.