Mixed convection in a vertical parallel plate channel is analyzed with one region filled with Newtonian fluids and another region with non-Newtonian nanofluids. Pseudo-plastic and dilatant fluids are used as working base flow of nanofluids. Power-law modelling is adopted to predict the effect of non-Newtonian behavior on the fluid flow and thermal performance of nanofluids, and the effective kinematic viscosity and thermal conductivity are determined using linear relations as functions of nanoparticle loading parameter. The velocity and temptrature fields are investigated, considering the influence of power-law index n(0.6 <= n <= 1.4) and nanoparticle volume fraction phi(0 <= phi <= 4%). Two cases have been paid special attention in the present work, that is, Case I: in the absence of viscous dissipation (Br = 0, GR not equal 0), and Case II: in the absence of buoyancy forces (GR = 0, Br not equal 0) when purely forced convection happens. It is observed that the power-law index has a strong effect on the shape of velocity profile, and on the scale of temperature curves. The results reveal that the power-law effect on both velocity and temperature is more observable in shear-thinning fluids than that in the dilatant flow. These findings demonstrate that, in some potential applications, the shear-thinning fluid should be chosen for its higher effectiveness on fluid driving where the non-Newtonian fluid is used to drive Newtonian flow via interface shear. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.