Multiscale synergistic governance mechanisms and technological innovations for mixed air pollutants

Atmospheric pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), 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–NO_x, VOCs–O₃, and multi-component VOCs. For VOCs–NO_x 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.