Pure *-homomorphisms

We introduce and study a notion of pureness for -homomorphisms and, more generally, for cpc. order-zero maps. After providing several examples of pureness, such as “$\mathcal{Z}$-stable”-like maps, we focus on the question of when pure maps factor through a pure C-algebra. We show that, up to Cuntz equivalence, any composition of two pure maps factors through a pure object. This is used to obtain several factorization results at the level of C*-algebras.