Bioconvection of a radiating hybrid nanofluid past a thin needle in the presence of heterogeneous-homogeneous chemical reaction

The photocatalytic nature of TiO2 finds applications in medicinal field to kill cancer cells, bacteria, and viruses under mild ultraviolet illumination and the antibacterial characteristic of Ag makes the composition Ag - TiO2 applicable for various purposes. It can also be used in other engineering appliances and industries such as humidity sensor, coolants, and in footwear industry. Hence, this study deals with the analysis of the effects of magnetic field, thermal radiation, and quartic autocatalysis of heterogeneous-homogeneous reaction in an electrically conducting Ag - TiO2 - H2O hybrid nanofluid. Furthermore, the gyrotactic microorganisms are used as active mixers to prevent agglomeration and sedimentation of TiO2 that occurs due to its hydrophobic nature. The mathematical model takes the form of partial differential equations with viscosity and thermal conductivity being the functions of volume fraction. These equations are converted to ordinary differential equations by using similarity transformation and are solved by RKF-45 method with the aid of shooting method. It is observed that the increase in the size of the needle enhances the overall performance of the hybrid nanofluid. Furthermore, the temperature of the hybrid nanofluid increases with the increase in volume fraction. It is observed that the friction produced by the Lorentz force increases the temperature of the nanofluid. It is further observed that the heterogeneous reaction parameter has more significant effect on the concentration of bulk fluid than the homogeneous reaction parameter.