Against the backdrop of " carbon peak and carbon neutrality" , airflow separation has garnered attention across various industriesdue to its advantages of environment friendly, low cost, water-free, low investment, and facile process. To upgrade the airflow separationadaptability on multiple fields, regions and working conditions, it is urgent to solve challenges such as narrow sorting range of materials,inefficient fine-grained separation and equipment scaling up difficulties. A systematic review on the research progress of airflow separationaround separation theory, technical application and technology improvement was conducted. The principle of airflow separation was first introduced, the force on particles during pneumatic separation process and the progress of separation theory was analyzed. Secondly, the application progress of airflow separation in solid waste, mining, agriculture was reviewed, the technical advantages and shortcomings wereanalyzed. Subsequently, the technical improvement progress of air supply mode optimization and equipment structure optimization inairflow separation were systematically analyzed. Finally, the solution paths of existing challenges were given, including improving the processing capacity of the equipment through the monomer parallel and similar amplification criteria, improving the adaptability anddispersion of wet materials through integrated pre-drying, separation and drying, and upgraded feeding method, and improving the separation efficiency of fine and thin materials through narrow particle separation and the pretreatment process that maintaining the shape consistency of materials. The future development direction of airflow separation in intelligent detection and control, large-scaling separationequipment, separation efficiency refinement and separation association were prospected, providing important basis for further research andpromotion of airflow separation.