Enhanced thermodynamic irreversibility and heat transfer in rotating graphene oxide–water nanofluids over a stretching surface

Entropy generation plays a pivotal role in determining the efficiency of thermal systems involving nanofluids, impacting a wide range of engineering applications from energy systems to advanced manufacturing. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of thermodynamic irreversibility and heat transfer mechanisms in a rotating graphene oxide–water nanofluid flowing over a radiatively heated stretching surface with partial slip effects. To accurately capture nanoparticle influence, five distinct particle shapes — blade, brick, cylinder, platelet, and sphere — are integrated within a sophisticated two-phase nanofluid model. The investigation includes critical physical phenomena such as viscous dissipation, Joule heating induced by electromagnetic fields, and magnetohydrodynamic effects, reflecting realistic operational environments. Employing similarity transformations, the resulting nonlinear boundary value problem governing momentum and thermal fields is resolved numerically using MATLAB’s bvp4c solver. The results reveal that platelet-shaped nanoparticles facilitate superior heat transfer enhancement, albeit with increased entropy production, while spherical particles impose more substantial flow resistance. This work offers valuable theoretical insights and practical guidelines for optimizing nanofluid design in high-performance heat transfer systems, highlighting the delicate balance between augmenting thermal transport and minimizing irreversibility under complex flow conditions.