MHD Cattaneo–Christov heat and mass flux transport of Cu–Ag–TiO 2 /water ternary hybrid nanofluid over a convectively heated porous stretching surface with Thomson–Troian velocity slip

Ternary hybrid nanofluids are promising for advanced thermal management, yet their transport under non-Fourier conditions in porous media remains insufficiently explored. This study examines the steady magnetohydrodynamic boundary-layer flow, heat and mass transfer of a Cu–Ag–TiO2/water ternary hybrid nanofluid over a linearly stretching sheet embedded in a Darcy–Forchheimer porous medium. The Cattaneo–Christov double-diffusion model replaces the classical Fourier and Fick laws to represent finite thermal and solutal relaxation times, and interfacial slip is described by the Thomson–Troian condition. Nonlinear thermal radiation, Joule heating, viscous dissipation, convective surface heating, internal heat generation/absorption and Arrhenius activation energy are incorporated. Similarity transformations reduce the governing partial differential equations to coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations, which are integrated numerically using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method. The magnetic field, thermal radiation, viscous dissipation and internal heat generation intensify thermal transport, whereas the resistance offered by the porous matrix suppresses fluid motion. Across the parameter ranges considered, the Cu–Ag–TiO2/water ternary hybrid nanofluid consistently attains higher temperatures and superior heat-transfer performance than its hybrid and mono counterparts. The findings confirm the strong potential of ternary hybrid nanofluids for advanced thermal-management applications.