This paper considers the heat and mass transfer characteristics of some nanofluid flows past a vertical infinite flat plate. The radiation effect for two distinct types of thermal boundary conditions is also taken into account. Derivation of exact analytical solutions are aimed for different water-based nanofluids containing Cu, Ag, CuO, Al2O3, and TiO2. The velocity and temperature profiles, skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are easily examined and discussed via the closed forms obtained which may be further used to verify the validity of obtained numerical solutions for more complicated transient free convection nanofluid flow problems. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.