Hydrothermal synthesis of Mo-C co-doped TiO2 and coupled with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) for high-efficiency photodegradation of methylene blue and tetracycline: Effect of donor-acceptor passivated co-doping

•One step hydrothermal process realizing Mo-C co-doping TiO2, then it is coupled with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO).•Localized tail states near the VB edge renders a band gap reduction of 1.0 eV.•Long-lived electron trap state suppresses the radiative electron-hole recombination.•DFT calculations help to unveil the band structure and electronic state information.