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Battery Technology: Lithium-ion Charging Basics Analysis

Author: Apogeeweb Date: 21 Nov 2019  4868

lithium-ion battery

Ⅰ Abstract

In portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebook computers, and small video cameras, lithium-ion batteries have developed rapidly due to their sound performance, such as high working voltage, large specific energy, long cycle life, low self-discharge rate, no memory effect and so on, which are compared with traditional NiCd batteries and NiMH batteries.

Lithium-ion Movement in Li-ion Battery

Figure 1. Lithium-ion Movement in Li-ion Battery

Catalog

Ⅰ Abstract

Ⅱ Charging Characteristics of Lithium Batteries

Ⅲ Performance Description of Several Different Charging States

3.1 On Standby

3.2 Precharging

3.3 Constant Current

3.4 Constant Voltage

Ⅳ Charging Process Analysis

4.1 High Voltage Constant Current Mode

4.2 Low Voltage High Current Mode

4.3 High Voltage High Current Mode

Ⅴ Li-ion Battery Charging Security

5.1 Common Sense in the Daily Use of Batteries

5.2 Charging Rules

Ⅵ One Question Related to Lithium-ion Battery and Going Further

6.1 Question

6.2 Answer


The charge and discharge of lithium-ion batteries do not transfer electrons through traditional methods, but energy changes occur through the entry and exit of lithium ions in the crystals of layered materials. Under normal charge and discharge conditions, the in and out of lithium ions cause changes in the interlayer spacing, but will not cause damage to the crystal structure, so lithium-ion batteries can be regarded as an ideal reversible battery. During charging and discharging, lithium ions come and go between the positive and negative electrodes of the battery, and they shake between the positive and negative electrodes like a rocking chair.

Lithium-ion Battery Charging Basic

Charging batteries is common for people's daily life, as we all know, Li-ion batteries play a very important role in our social life with their excellent performance, in order to get longest service life, proper charging of Li-ion batteries is essential. Li-ion battery charging mode is voltage limit and constant current, which is controlled by IC chip. The typical charging method is: detect the voltage of the battery to be charged firstly, if its voltage is lower than 3V, pre-charge is required necessarily, and the the charging current is 1 ≤ 10 of the set current. After the voltage rises to 3V, then transferring into the standard charging process. The standard charging process is: having constant current charging with set current. When the battery voltage rises to 4.20V, it is changed to constant voltage charging mode, and the charging voltage is kept at 4.20V. At this time, the charging current gradually decreases till the current drops to 1/10 of the set charging current, the charging ends.

The charging process of a Li-ion battery can be divided into three processes: trickle charging (low voltage precharging), constant current charge, and constant voltage charge.

 

Ⅱ Charging Characteristics of Lithium Batteries

Typical Charge Profile

Figure 2. Typical Charge Profile

As can be seen from the above figure, the charging current and voltage of the lithium battery are dynamically changed, which is determined by the chemical content of the lithium battery itself. Therefore, it is necessary to configure the performance of the charging IC according to the charging characteristics of the lithium battery itself to achieve a correct, safe and efficient use of the lithium battery. The "lithium-ion battery charging current" in the daily expression is for the charging current of fast charging. As a dynamic process, the optimal charging current of the lithium battery is actually divided into three stages.

 

Ⅲ Performance Description of Several Different Charging States

Li-ion Battery Process

Figure 3. Li-ion Battery Process

3.1 On Standby

The standby state is handled in the following cases:

1) The input voltage is lower than the minimum operating voltage of the circuit.

2) After the battery voltage is approach to the limit.

3) Using external switch to turn offmanagement IC to stop charge.

Voltage and current characteristics in standby mode: The charging IC has no charging voltage output, and the IC input current is in the uA level, which can reduce power loss.

 

3.2 Precharging

As shown in above figure. Optimal current during precharging: that is, when the initial/no-load voltage of the lithium battery is lower than the prechargeing threshold, it needs a pre-charging stage. For a single lithium-ion battery, this threshold is generally 3.0V, in the phase, the precharge current is about 10% of the current in the constant current charging phase.

 

3.3 Constant Current

As shown in the figure above, when the battery voltage is greater than the preset voltage threshold and less than the maximum voltage of 4.2V, the IC will charge the battery with the maximum charging current set by the external resistor. When the battery voltage is equal to the maximum charging voltage (near 4.2V), the charge stop.

The best current for constant current charging: when stay in constant current stage, the voltage gradually rises, then enter the fast charging phase. Most of the constant current charging current is set between 0.5 and 1.0C, and the best set is 0.8C, because the battery can be full charged about two hours without consider other factors. The case is a good balance between charging time and charging safety.

Several problems that should be paid attention to when batteries at constant current charging:

1) In this state, the IC is in the state of maximum charging current, and the loss at this time is also the largest. The linear voltage drop loss calculation is L = (Vin-Vout) × Iout, it is necessary to pay attention to the maximum operating temperature of the IC.

2) The increasing temperature due to the highest charging current, the IC will automatically reduce the maximum charge current, and this is why the charging current drops during overheating.

 

3.4 Constant Voltage

The maximum charging voltage portion shown in the above figure, when it is detected that the battery voltage is equal to or close to the battery charging voltage, at this time, the charging mode will be stepped down with a constant charging voltage of 4.2V. When it is detected that the charging current is less than 1/10 of the maximum set current, charging will stop. Charging current during constant voltage charging: In the case of a single-cell lithium-ion battery, as the battery voltage rises to 4.2 V, the constant current charging ends and the constant voltage charging stage begins. In order to achieve the best performance, the voltage stabilizer tolerance should be better than +1%.

At this stage, the voltage is keeping constant and the current is reduced, and this current reduction is a sequential decrement process. Most lithium battery protection selects 0.1C as the termination current, which means that the charging process enters the end state. Once charging is finished, the charging current drops to zero. The problem to be noted in this state is that the battery can be automatically turned off when the battery is charged to the highest setting voltage. At the same time, when the overvoltage protection of the IC is in the abnormal battery state, it can be automatically locked. Unlike nickel batteries, continuous trickle charging is not recommended. Because it will cause plate plating effect to the lithium metal, making batteries failure.

The core of the best charging current of lithium battery is the current design of constant current charging. It should be emphasized that most portable lithium batteries should be designed to charge 0.5C~0.8C. For example 1400mAh capacity of iPhone battery(capacity mAh= current mA × time /h), choosing 0.7C, that is, Apple’s charging current is about 1A, so that most of the batteries between 0.5C~0.8C you can choose.

When charging, the voltage of the battery should be detected first. If the voltage is lower than 3V, pre-charging should be performed first. When the charging current is 1/10 of the set current, 0.05C is selected generally. After the voltage rises to 3V, it enters the standard charging process. The standard charging process is constant current charging with set current. Till the battery voltage rises to 4.20V, it is changed to constant voltage charging, and the charging voltage is kept at 4.20V. At this time, the charging current gradually decreases, and when the current drops to 1/10 of the set charging current, the charging ends.

Generally, the charging current of the lithium battery is set between 0.2C and 1C. The larger the current, the faster the charging, and the greater the heat of the battery. Moreover, when lies in excessive current charging, the capacity is not full, because the electro-chemical reaction inside the battery takes time.

 

Ⅳ Charging Process Analysis

 

Charging Characteristics of Lithium-ion Battery

Figure 4. Charging Characteristics of Lithium-ion Battery

 

4.1 High Voltage Constant Current Mode

In general, the charging process of the mobile phone is to first reduce the 220V charging voltage to the 5V charger voltage, and the 5V charger voltage reduce to the 4.2V battery voltage. During the entire charging process, if the voltage is increased, heat is generated, therefore, the charger will heat up and the phone will heat up. Moreover, the greater the power consumption, the greater the damage to the battery.

 

4.2 Low Voltage High Current Mode

When the voltage is constant, the current can be increased by using a parallel circuit. Under this situation, the smaller the volume shared by each circuit after parallel shunting, each circuit has the smaller load damage, so as to the phones charging process.

 

4.3 High Voltage High Current Mode

This method increases the current and voltage at the same time, so that from the previous formula P=UI, we can know that this method is the best way to increase the power, but it will generate more heat when the voltage is increased. In this way, the more energy is consumed, but the voltage and current are not freely increased without limitation.

The maximum charging current of a lithium battery is strictly determined by the structure of the battery. Therefore, the specifications of the lithium battery manufacturers are not consistent, some are set to 0.6C, and the highest current specification for portable lithium batteries is 1C.  

Of course, the current design of pre-charging and constant voltage charging cannot be ignored. In the two processes, if the initial voltage is not lower than the pre-charging threshold of 3.0V, there is no pre-charging process. In general, there is a process to check batteries charging voltage that is beneficial to keep the long-term use of lithium batteriess.

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery LI18650

Ⅴ Li-ion Battery Charging Security

5.1 Common Sense in the Daily Use of Batteries

  • Misunderstanding: “Battery activation”, charging for more than 12 hours in the first three times.

For the “activation” problem of lithium batteries, many sayings are: charging time must be more than 12 hours, and repeat three times in order to activate the battery. This statement that “the first three charges have to be charged for more than 12 hours” is obviously a continuation of nickel batteries (such as nickel cadmium and nickel hydride), in other words, this kind of statement can be said to be misinformation of the other batteries. After a sample survey, it conformed that a considerable number of people have confused the charging methods of the two batteries. Lithium-ion battery activation does not require a special method, they will be activated naturally in the normal use.

The charge and discharge characteristics of lithium and nickel batteries are very different. All the professional technical data reviewed emphasize that overcharge and overdischarge can cause huge damage to lithium batteries, especially liquid Li-ion batteries. Therefore, charging is preferably performed in accordance with standard methods, especially for ultra-long charging of more than 12 hours. For example, the charging method described in the mobile phone manual is a standard charging method suitable for the mobile phone.

 

  • It is not suitable to charge for a long time, also the battery is completely dischargedand then

The lithium battery phone or charger will automatically stop charging when the battery is fully charged. There is no so-called “turbulent” charging over 10 hours for nickel battery chargers. If the lithium battery is fully charged, it will not be charged anymore continuously.

Over-time charging and power off completely will cause over-charging and over-discharging, which will cause permanent damage to the positive and negative electrodes of lithium-ion batteries. At the molecular level, over-discharge will cause the anode carbon to release lithium ions excessively causing the layer structure collapses, and overcharging will hardly plug too much lithium ions into the negative carbon structure, and some of the lithium ions will no longer be released.

 

  • Regular deep charge and discharge for battery calibration

Li-ion batteries generally have a management IC and a charge control IC. The management IC has a series of registers, which contain values such as capacity, temperature, ID, state of charge, and discharge times. These values will gradually change during use, so the main function of the “The batteries should be fully charged and discharged when used once a month or so” is to correct the improper values in these registers.

 

5.2 Charging Rules

The following rules should be noted when charging and discharging lithium ion batteries:

Typical Li-ion Battery Discharging Diagram

Figure 5. Typical Li-ion Battery Discharging Diagram

  • Charge current

Itmust limited for li-ion batteries. Typically the maximum value is 0.8C, but lower values are more usually set to give some margin.

 

  • Charge temperature  

Itshould be monitored. The cell or battery must not be charged when the temperature is lower than 0°C or greater than 45°C.

 

  • Short circuit protection

Itis required to prevent damage or explosion as a result of short circuits.

 

  • Over-voltage protection

Itis required to prevent a voltage that is too high being applied across the battery terminals.

 

  • Over-charge protection

Itis required to stop the Li-ion charging process when voltage per cell rises above 4.30 volts.

 

  • Reverse polarity protection

Itis needed to make sure the battery is not charged in the wrong direction as this could lead to serious damage or even explosion.

 

  • Over-discharge protection

Itis required to prevent the battery voltage falling below about 2.3V dependent upon the manufacturer, when battery voltage less than 2.3V will make battery damage irreversibly.

 

  • Over temperature protection

It is necessary to prevent the battery operating in a high temperature, because heating will age batteries and reduce their service life. if the temperature rises too high. Temperatures above 100°C can cause irreparable damage.

battery image

1. How many years does a lithium ion battery last?
three years
The typical estimated life of a Lithium-Ion battery is about two to three years or 300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first. One charge cycle is a period of use from fully charged, to fully discharged, and fully recharged again.

 

2. What is the difference between a lithium battery and a lithium ion battery?
Lithium batteries feature primary cell construction. This means that they are single-use—or non-rechargeable. Ion batteries, on the other hand, feature secondary cell construction. This means that they can be recharged and used over and over again.

 

3. Why are lithium ion batteries bad for the environment?
Recycling Lithium-Ion
Unwanted MP3 players and laptops often end up in landfills, where metals from the electrodes and ionic fluids from the electrolyte can leak into the environment. Because lithium cathodes degrade over time, they cannot be placed into new batteries.

 

4. Is there a better battery than lithium ion?
Zinc-air batteries can be considered superior to lithium-ion, because they don't catch fire. The only problem is they rely on expensive components to work.

 

5. What is the best way to charge a lithium ion battery?
Simple Guidelines for Charging Lithium-based Batteries
Turn off the device or disconnect the load on charge to allow the current to drop unhindered during saturation.
Charge at a moderate temperature.
Lithium-ion does not need to be fully charged; a partial charge is better.

Ordering & Quality

Photo Mfr. Part # Company Description Package PDF Qty Pricing
(USD)
SPV1040TTR SPV1040TTR Company:STMicroelectronics Remark:IC SOLAR BATTERY CHARGER 8TSSOP Package:8-TSSOP (0.173", 4.40mm Width)
DataSheet
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
4000+: $1.52576
8000+: $1.47808
12000+: $1.43040
Inquiry
MAX77757JEFG435 Company:Maxim Integrated Remark:Charger IC Lithium Ion/Polymer 24-FC2QFN (3x3) Package:24-PowerUFQFN
DataSheet
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
1+: $2.67000
10+: $2.39900
25+: $2.26800
80+: $1.96563
230+: $1.86478
440+: $1.67327
945+: $1.63800
Inquiry
STBC15LJTR STBC15LJTR Company:STMicroelectronics Remark:Charger IC Lithium Ion 12-Flip-Chip (1.11x1.41) Package:12-XFBGA, FCBGA
N/A
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
1+: $1.54000
10+: $1.37600
25+: $1.30640
100+: $1.00300
250+: $0.88636
500+: $0.83972
1000+: $0.77018
5000+: $0.77018
Inquiry
MAX1555EZK-T MAX1555EZK-T Company:Maxim Integrated Remark:Charger IC Lithium Ion TSOT-23-5 Package:SOT-23-5 Thin, TSOT-23-5
DataSheet
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
1+: $1.86000
10+: $1.67500
25+: $1.58000
100+: $1.26400
250+: $1.10600
500+: $1.07440
1000+: $1.02700
2500+: $0.94741
Inquiry
FAN54015UCX FAN54015UCX Company:ON Semiconductor Remark:Charger IC Lithium Ion/Polymer 20-WLCSP (1.96x1.56) Package:20-UFBGA, WLCSP
DataSheet
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
715+: $0.34996
3000+: $0.33750
Inquiry
AS3611-BDFM-B AS3611-BDFM-B Company:ams Remark:Charger IC Multi-Chemistry 14-MLPD (3x3) Package:14-WFDFN Exposed Pad
DataSheet
In Stock:On Order
Inquiry
Price:
Call
Inquiry
SEA01TR SEA01TR Company:STMicroelectronics Remark:Charger IC 8-SOIC Package:8-SOIC (0.154", 3.90mm Width)
DataSheet
In Stock:2065
Inquiry
Price:
1+: $1.26000
10+: $1.12600
25+: $1.06840
100+: $0.87770
250+: $0.82044
500+: $0.72504
1000+: $0.63000
Inquiry
STBC21FTR STBC21FTR Company:STMicroelectronics Remark:Charger IC Lithium Ion 14-HTSSOP Package:14-TSSOP (0.173", 4.40mm Width) Exposed Pad
DataSheet
In Stock:2192
Inquiry
Price:
1+: $2.80000
10+: $2.51800
25+: $2.37520
100+: $2.02350
250+: $1.90000
500+: $1.66250
1000+: $1.37750
Inquiry

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pinglun 2 comments

    • pingluntus
    • Goferry on 2019/12/19 17:56:42

    As we all know, Li-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most other chemistries cannot claim. There is no memory and no scheduled cycling is required to prolong the battery’s life.» such as what we hear from PC sellers about their products long-life maintenance. Cycles of complete discharging and recharging are only for hardware and software calibration, not intended for battery life.

    • pingluntus
    • Hony on 2019/12/19 18:00:32

    LiON battery would explode if the reaction create some hidrogen and in the expansion two contact give a short circuit. If the battery was made by low quality processes the percentage can be higher, but in normal circumstances, precaution like described in this article, the percentage is better: one on millions of units.

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