The main purpose of this investigation is to analyze the impacts of a novel exponential space dependent heat source on MHD slip flow of carbon nanoliquids past a stretchable rotating disk. The flow is created due to rotation and stretching of the disk. Aspects of the convective condition and cross-diffusion (Soret and Dufour effects) are also accounted. A comparative study of nanofluids made up of SWCNT's (single-walled carbon nanotube) and MWCNT's (multi-walled carbon nanotube) is presented. The governing partial differential equations system is reduced to nonlinear ordinary boundary value problem. The Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg is utilized for numerical simulations. Embedded dimensionless parameters on the flow fields are examined via graphical illustrations. The rate of heat mass transfer can be controlled by cross-diffusion, exponential space-based heat source and thermal-based heat source effects. It is also proved that $\theta {\left (\xi\right)} _ {{\rm {SWCNT}}-{\rm {nanoliquid}}}\gt\theta {\left (\xi\right)} _ {{\rm {MWCNT}}-\mathrm {nanoliquid}}. $ A novel idea of the exponential space dependent heat source is implemented in the investigation of the slip flow over a rotating deformable disk under the effects of cross-diffusion, temperature based heat source and magnetic field for the first time. A comparison between two different fluids namely SWCNT-H 2 O nanoliquid and MWCNT-H 2 O nanoliquid are studied.