Driven by the numerous applications of fluid flow between rotating disks, such as spinning disk reactors, ocean renewable energy technologies, and various engineering systems, we have performed a comparative analysis of two trihybrid nanofluids flowing between two rotating, coaxial, and parallel stretching disks in a porous medium with entropy generation. The comparison of two trihybrid nanofluids for their efficiency is necessary to identify the most effective formulation for targeted applications, such as hyperthermic cancer therapy. Different trihybrid nanofluids, composed of varying combinations of nanoparticles, exhibit distinct thermal, rheological, and stability properties. For this study, we have selected two water-based combinations of trihybrid nanofluids, \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) and \(\text {MgO}\) + \(\text {Cu}\) + \(\text {Al}_{2}\text {O}_{3}\) , to evaluate their efficiency. In this study, the shape factor of nanoparticles, specifically cylindrical and spherical shapes, is considered to analyze their impact on the flow and temperature field. To obtain a numerical solution for the governing equations, we used Runge–Kutta technique with the shooting method. The findings reveal that the \(\text {MgO}\) + \(\text {Cu}\) + \(\text {Al}_{2}O_{3}\) trihybrid nanofluid achieves the highest heat transfer rate when compared to \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) . Despite the higher cost of the \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) combination, the \(\text {MgO}\) + \(\text {Cu}\) + \(\text {Al}_{2}\text {O}_{3}\) nanoparticle blend provides a more affordable solution with superior heat transfer, making it more suitable for broad practical applications. According to the regression model, skin friction shows greater sensitivity to the \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) nanofluid in relation to Reynolds number at both upper and lower disk, compared to the \(\text {MgO}\) + \(\text {Cu}\) + \(\text {Al}_{2}O_{3}\) . The Nusselt number is more sensitive to the Reynolds number in the \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) . A 100 \(\%\) rise in the thermal Biot number yields about 115 \(\%\) enhancement in the heat transfer rate of the \(\text {Ag}\) + \(\text {MoS}_{2}\) + \(\text {TiO}_{2}\) trihybrid nanofluid and approximately 118 \(\%\) enhancement in the \(\text {MgO}\) + \(\text {Cu}\) + \(\text {Al}_{2}\text {O}_{3}\) trihybrid nanofluid.
