Superalloy or other thermal protective materials are often oxidized seriously at high temperature. For most materials diffusion is the controlling step of oxidation. During oxidation, stress would be induced by growth strain and it can affect the diffusion process through chemical potential and diffusivity. Governing equation for diffusion is derived considering chemo-mechanical potential and diffusivity affected by stress. Oxidation kinetics is obtained to interpret the stress-diffusion coupling effects. The stress and its gradient influences on oxidation are also discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.