Impact of Cattaneo-Christov heat flux on MHD flow of Non-Newtonian Fluids over a Stretching Sheet

This work examines the influence of Cattaneo–Christov heat flux on magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) flow of non-Newtonian fluids; Jeffrey, Maxwell and Oldroyd-Bover a stretching sheet, integrating activation energy and velocity slip effects. The governing partial differential equations are converted into similarity-based nonlinear ordinary differential equations and solved numerically utilizing MATLAB’s BVP5C solver. Results reveal that higher relaxation-to-retardation ratios, larger Deborah numbers and increased slip significantly reduce fluid velocity with Oldroyd-B fluid and Maxwell fluid exhibits the greatest decrease, while Jeffrey fluid is minimally affected. Thermal Deborah number enhances heat flux relaxation, leading to elevated temperature profiles and a thicker thermal boundary layer. Increased activation energy slows chemical reactions but raises nanoparticle concentration with Jeffrey fluid. Validation against previous studies confirms the accuracy and reliability of the solutions. Furthermore, skin friction decreases with magnetic parameters, relaxation ratio and slip, whereas the Nusselt number increases with heat flux relaxation and radiation but diminishes due to Brownian motion, thermophoresis and non-uniform heat. Sherwood number rises with Lewis number, reaction rate, Brownian motion and reaction strength but decreases with thermophoresis and activation energy. Maxwell fluid consistently exhibits the most favourable transport rates, Jeffrey fluid the least, with Oldroyd-B liquid intermediate due to rheological differences.