Influence of nonlinear thermal radiation on boundary layer flow and convective heat transfer of γ Al2 O3 nanofluids due to linear stretching sheet is investigated with Marangoni convection for the first time. Ethylene glycol (C2H6O2) and Water (H2O) are considered as base fluids. The non-linear Rosseland diffusion approximation is used to describe the thermal radiation. Experimental based thermo physical properties and an effective Prandtl number model are used to analyze the gamma Al2 O3 nanofluids. Nonlinear partial differential systems are reduced to nonlinear ordinary differential systems by invoking appropriate transformations. The problems in hand are solved numerically using fourth order Runge-Kutta method with shooting iteration technique. Effects of flow controlling parameters on velocity, temperature and local Nusselt number are discussed and presented graphically. It is found that the increasing values of nanoparticle volume fraction parameter depreciate the velocity field near the stretching sheet wall and raise the velocity field far away from the wall. The temperature ratio parameter has a significant effect on temperature field with nanoparticle volume fraction. The local Nusselt number increases with the increase of radiation parameter and nanoparticle volume fraction. © 2018 by American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.