A Cahn–Hilliard-type theory for species diffusion coupled with large elastic–plastic deformations

We develop a unified framework of balance laws and thermodynamically consistent constitutive equations which couple Cahn–Hilliard-type species diffusion with large elastic–plastic deformations of a body, and account for the swelling and phase segregation caused by the diffusing species. ntial, technologically important, area of application of the theory is in the chemo-mechanical analysis of the evolution of large stresses which develop because of the volume changes associated with the diffusion of lithium ions in the active electrode particles of lithium-ion batteries during charge–discharge cycles.