This article mainly addresses the influence of carbon nanotubes in the Marangoni convection boundary layer flow of viscous fluid. Formulation and analysis have been made for both single-wall (SWCNTs) and multi-wall (MWCNTs) carbon nanotubes. Thermal radiation effect is considered in the energy expression. Transformation method reduces the partial differential systems into the ordinary differential systems. Convergent series solutions are established for the resulting differential systems. Velocity and thermal fields are focused for the outcome of sundry variables through the problems statement. Nusselt number is also analyzed. It is found that Nusselt number is more effective for larger radiation and nanoparticle volume fraction parameters. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.