A theoretical model is drafted to inspect the hydromagnetic flow of carbon nanotubes (CNT’s) suspended in a Maxwell nanofluid by means of activation energy with binary chemical reaction over a stretching sheet. Modified Arrhenius function is measured instead of the energy activation. Heat transport phenomena are explored in energy expression through a nonlinear thermal radiation and viscous dissipation, which is incorporated with a novel theory specifically Cattaneo–Christov model of heat diffusion—a sophisticated form of Fourier’s heat flux formula. The flow analysis is reported in attendance of convective slip and suction. Two different kinds of CNT’s (i.e. single and multiple walls) are consistently dispersed in the base fluid (engine oil) to illustrate the fine points of the flow. The governing system of mathematical expressions for the locally similar flow is tackled numerically by Runge–Kutta-based MATLAB bvp4c package. The procured solutions are drawn for different values of pertinent parameters of interest. The temperature of the fluid escalates with the nonlinear thermal radiation. Activation energy boosts up the concentration, and a negative trend is observed for rate of chemical reaction. © 2019, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.