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Application Note
Charging LiFePO4 Battery And Supercapacitor Using
BQ25756

Md Munir Hasan
ABSTRACT
This application note provides how to configure BQ25756 buck-boost charge controller for charging LiFePO4
batteries and supercapacitors.

Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................2
2 LiFePO4 Charging Profile....................................................................................................................................................... 2
3 BQ25756 Settings For LiFePO4 ............................................................................................................................................ 3
3.1 Set Charging Voltages....................................................................................................................................................... 3
3.2 Set Charging Current......................................................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 TS Pin Setting.................................................................................................................................................................... 4
4 Supercapacitor Charging Profile...........................................................................................................................................5
5 SBQ25756 Settings For Supercapacitor...............................................................................................................................6
5.1 Charge Current Setting...................................................................................................................................................... 6
5.2 Charge Voltage Setting...................................................................................................................................................... 6
5.3 TS Pin Setting.................................................................................................................................................................... 6
6 Test Results From EVM.......................................................................................................................................................... 7
6.1 Charging LiFePO4 Battery..................................................................................................................................................7
6.2 Charging Supercapacitor................................................................................................................................................... 7
7 Summary................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
8 References.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Trademarks
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Introduction www.ti.com

1 Introduction
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries offer good thermal stability and low risk of thermal runaway. LiFePO4
batteries also offer longer cycle life and high discharge current. Charging LiFePO4 batteries is similar process as
Li-Ion batteries. However, there are few important voltage thresholds to be considered. Apart from the batteries,
supercapacitors are a popular choice for backup power. Picking the correct charging device can maximize the
charge life of both LiFePO4 batteries and supercapacitors. The BQ25756 buck-boost charge controller can be
programmed to support both LiFePO4 batteries and supercapacitors.
2 LiFePO4 Charging Profile
LiFePO4 battery has some unique features compared to a Li-ion battery such as high thermal runaway
temperatures, very high discharge current capability and high charge current. LiFePO4 batteries follow a similar
charging profile to the Li-ion batteries. The device charges the battery in four phases.
Phase 1 – Trickle charge: When the battery heavily depleted, the battery voltage is very low and below the
threshold VBAT_SHORT. The device employs low charge current called trickled charge to bring the battery voltage
up above VBAT_SHORT.
Phase 2 – Pre-charge: When the battery voltage is above VBAT_SHORT but below VBATLOWV, the device charges
the battery with pre-charge current in to bring the battery voltage above VBATLOWV. The pre-charge current is
usually 20% of the fast charge current. For LiFePO4 battery, VBATLOWV is 55% of the fully charged voltage. For
example, a one cell battery has charge voltage of 3.6 V and VBATLOWV = 1.98 V.
Phase 3 – Constant current: When the battery voltage is above VBATLOWV, the device charges the battery with a
full fast charge current. This phase continues until the battery voltage reaches the charge regulation voltage. A
one cell LiFePO4 battery typically has a regulation voltage 3.5 V to 3.65 V.
Phase 4 – Constant voltage: When the battery voltage reaches the regulation voltage, the charge current is
tapered down and the battery voltage is held constant at the regulation voltage. When the battery voltage is
above a recharge threshold and the current is below termination current, the device terminates charging. The
recharge threshold VRECHG = 93% of the battery regulation voltage and termination current is typically 10% of
the fast charge current.

Charge Voltage
VFB_REG
Battery Voltage
VRECHG

Charge Current
ICHG

Charge Current

VBATLOWV

VBAT_SHORT

IPRECHG
ITERM
IBAT_SHORT

Trickle Charge Pre-charge Fast-Charge CC Taper-Charge CV Top-off Timer Auto-

(optional) Recharge
CV

Figure 2-1. Typical LiFePO4 Charging Profile

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3 BQ25756 Settings For LiFePO4

3.1 Set Charging Voltages
3.1.1 Regulation Voltage
Battery regulation voltage is programmed using a resistor divider to the FB pin. The default internal voltage
reference is VFB=1.536 V, and can be changed using the VFB_REG register bits. The top of the resistor divider
is selected to be 249 kΩ. The bottom resistor is calculated as

(1)

where VFB=1.536 V, RTOP=249 kΩ and RFBG=33 Ω which is the internal FBG pull down resistor. For a 4 S
battery, the desired battery regulation voltage VBATREG=4×3.6 V=14.4 V. With these values the bottom resistor is
calculated to be RBOT = 29.76 kΩ.

SRP
SRN 249k
FB REGN
BATTERY
29.8k 5.24k
FBG
TS 4S
MODE
ILIM_HIZ
ICHG
133k

FSW_SYNC
30.31k
PGND

Figure 3-1. Regulation Voltage Setting Using a Resistive Divider to pin FB

If we choose the nearest 0.1% resistor, for example, RBOT = 30.1 kΩ, then effective VBATREG is 14.25 V. We can
fine tune VBATREG by adjusting the internal reference VFB via VFB_REG in register REG0x00. In this case, the
value can be set to 1.552 V which makes battery regulation voltage VBATREG very close to 14.4 V.
3.1.2 Recharge Voltage
This can be set using VRECHG field in register REG0x17. For LiFePO4 battery, recommended VRECHG = 0x0
which sets the battery low voltage to be 93%×VFB_REG. As an example, for a 4 S battery, regulation voltage is
14.4 V and VRECHG = 13.4 V.
3.1.3 Battery Low Voltage
This can be set using VBAT_LOWV field in register REG0x14. For LiFePO4 battery, recommended VBAT_LOWV
= 0x1 which sets the battery low voltage to be 55%×VFB_REG. As an example, for a 4 S battery, regulation
voltage is 14.4 V and VBAT_LOWV = 7.92 V.
3.2 Set Charging Current
LiFePO4 batteries can charge using the same fast charge current settings as the Li-ion batteries. No specific
settings for LiFePO4 are required. The user can control the fast charge, pre-charge and termination current limit.
3.2.1 Charging Current
There are two ways to set the charging current limit. One way is to use the hardware control with ICHG pin pull
down resistor. The other way is to use ICHG_REG register bits. If both are enabled, the lowest limit of these two
applies.

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3.2.1.1 ICHG Pin Pull Down Resistor

To control maximum charge current using ICHG pin only, the ICHG_REG register bits are set to the maximum
value. By default, ICHG_REG is set to maximum value allowing ICHG pin to set the charge current. A pull-down
resistor RICHG is connected to ICHG and PGND which is calculated using the following relationship.

(2)

Where KICHG=50 A-kΩ. The requirement is required to use a 5 mΩ RBAT_SNS sense resistor.
3.2.1.2 ICHG_REG Register Bits
To control maximum charge current using register only, ICHG pin is shorted to PGND and disable the ICHG pin
function by setting the EN_ICHG_PIN=0 in REG0x18. Then charge current limit can be set in register REG0x02.
The charge current limit range is from 400 mA to 20 A with 50 mA/step.
3.2.2 Pre-Charge Current
By default, the pre-charge current is set to 20%×ICHG when ICHG pin sets the charge current limit. If REG0x10
is used to set a pre-charge current then, the lower of 20%×ICHG or the register value is used.
3.2.3 Termination Current
By default, the termination current is set to 10%×ICHG when ICHG pin sets the charge current limit. If REG0x12
is used to set a pre-charge current then, the lower of 10%×ICHG or the register value is used.
3.3 TS Pin Setting
LiFePO4 batteries have a better chemistry stability than Li-ion batteries. This allows them less prone to thermal
runaway. LiFePO4 batteries generally perform well in higher ambient temperature. However, charging the
battery with JEITA compliance rules provides additional layer of security. Although, there are no specific JEITA
guidelines for LiFePO4 in particular, a good practice is to use thresholds for Li-ion batteries if the user wants to
use JEITA. Depending on whether the user wants to use JEITA or NTC monitoring, there can be three scenarios.
3.3.1 JEITA Enabled
Assuming a 103AT NTC thermistor on the battery pack, a resistor divider from REGN connected to TS pin and
to the battery pack thermistor sets the T1 and T5 temperature window beyond which charging is disabled. As
shown in the figure blow, in T1<TS<T2 charge current is reduced and in T3<TS<T5 battery regulation voltage is
reduced. The blue trace is the default behavior and the red traces shows programmable range which can be set
in REG0x1B.
ISETC=11 ISETH=1 VSET = 11
100% VFB_REG
Percentage of VFB_REG
Percentage of ICHG

80%
VSET = 10
60% 97.6%
ISETC=10 ISETH=0 VSET = 01
40% 94.3%
ISETC=01
20%
ISETC=00 VSET = 00

T1 T2 T3 T5 T1 T2 T3 T5
TS Temperature TS Temperature
0℃ 10℃ 45℃ 60℃ 0℃ 10℃ 45℃ 60℃

Figure 3-2. TS charging values

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REGN

RT1
TS

RT2

10k
PGND

Figure 3-3. Resistive divider to TS pin

3.3.2 JEITA Disabled

JEITA profile can be disabled by clearing EN_JEITA register bit in REG0x1C. However, the charger still disable
charging outside the T1<TS<T5 window. The process just disables the special charge profile for T1 to T2 and T3
to T5 regions.
3.3.3 NTC Monitoring Disabled
The JEITA and NTC monitoring can be completely disabled by clearing EN_TS register bit in register REG0x1C.
In this case TS pin voltage is ignored and TS pin can be either be floated or connected to PGND.
4 Supercapacitor Charging Profile
Most super capacitors can be discharged down to 0 V and recharged to the maximum voltage with the
manufacturer recommended charge current. For a super capacitor, trickle charge and pre-charge phase is not
required. As a result, the supercapacitor can charge in two phases.
Phase 1 – Constant current:
Charging starts with the full fast charge current and the capacitor voltage increases to the regulation voltage
setting.
Phase 2 – Constant voltage:
Once the capacitor voltage reaches the regulation voltage, the charge current is tapered down to zero and the
capacitor voltage is held at the regulation voltage.

VOREG Constant Current Constant Voltage

(PROG)
ICHARGE
(PROG)

Taper Current

Time

Figure 4-1. Supercapacitor Charging Profile

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5 SBQ25756 Settings For Supercapacitor

5.1 Charge Current Setting
Supercapacitors does not require trickle charge or pre-charge when their voltage is low. Supercapacitors can
be charged with fast charge current even when the voltage is zero. The termination current setting is also not
required. For setting EN_PRECHHARGE bit to 0 disables both trickle charge and pre-charge. The charge timer
can be disabled as well. To use optimum charge current, the settings in Table 5-1 can be used.
Table 5-1. Supercapacitor Charge Current Settings
Settings Value Register
EN_PRECHG 0 REG0x14
EN_TERM 0 REG0x14
EN_CHG_TMR 0 REG0x15

The desired fast charge current can be set using the method described in Section 3.2.1.
5.2 Charge Voltage Setting
For supercapacitors, only the battery regulation voltage VFB needs to be set. As an example, if we want to
charge a 1.67 F capacitor to 14.5 V then the FB pin bottom resistor is calculated as RBOT = 29.54 kΩ using the
equation described in Section 3.1.1. If we select a 0.1% resistor of value 30.1 kΩ then effective VBATREG is 14.25
V. We can fine tune VBATREG closer to 14.5 V by adjusting the internal reference VFB via VFB_REG in register
REG0x00 and setting the value to 1.562 V.
5.3 TS Pin Setting
Optional TS pin can be used to sense the supercapacitor temperature from an NTC thermistor placed on the
supercapacitor and disable charging if the supercapacitor temperature is outside a set window. The following
figure shows a 103AT NTC thermistor connection configuration. The temperature window setting process is
described in Section 3.3.

REGN
RT1

TS

RTH
RT2

103 AT

PGND

Figure 5-1. TS Resistor Network for Supercapacitor

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6 Test Results From EVM

6.1 Charging LiFePO4 Battery
On the EVM original RBOT of 13.7 kΩ is replaced with 30.1 kΩ which translates to VBATREG being 14.25 V. This
means we can charge 14.25 V/3.6 V or about 4-cell battery. To set VBATREG more accurately which is 4x3.6
V=14.4 V, VFB_REG register is set to 1.552 V using bqStudio. The charging current is set to 2 A, pre-charge
current is set to 500 mA and trickle charge current is set to 250 mA. VBAT_LOWV is set to 55% × VFB_REG
and VRECHG is set to 93% × VFB_REG. The input voltage to the charger is at 31 V. With a heavily depleted
battery, the charger starts charging with a trickle charge when charging is enabled by setting EN_CHG. When
the battery voltage reaches pre-charge threshold, the charger employs pre-charge current. When the battery
voltage is close to 7.9 V, the battery charges with full fast charge current. When the battery reaches 14.4 V the
charge current is tapered down to termination current and the charging cycle is complete. Charge status register
is shown as ‘charge done’. During the charging the STAT1 pin is ON and STAT2 pin is OFF indicating charge in
progress. When charging is done STAT1 pin is OFF and STAT2 pin is ON.

Figure 6-1. LiFePO4 Battery Charging Cycle on an EVM

6.2 Charging Supercapacitor

For charging supercapacitor on the EVM, EN_PRECHG, EN_TERM and EN_CHG_TMR is disabled using
bqStudio. VFB_REG is set to 1.562 V to achieve charge voltage of 14.5 V. Charging current is set to 2 A.
Input voltage is at 31 V. A 1.67 F discharged capacitor is attached for charging. When EN_CHG is enabled, the
charger charges the capacitor with full fast charge current. When the capacitor reaches 14.5 V, charge current is
tapered down. The charge status register is shown as ‘taper charge’. At this stage STAT1 pin is ON and STAT2
pin is OFF. Because the termination has been turned off, the charger status stays at the taper charge phase
indefinitely to keep the supercapacitor charged at 14.5 V.

Figure 6-2. Supercapacitor Charging Cycle on the EVM

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7 Summary
This application note provides detailed description of how to configure the BQ25756 buck-boost charge
controller for charging LiFePO4 batteries and supercapacitors. Test results from the EVM is also presented.
8 References
1. Texas Instruments, BQ25756: Standalone/I2C Controlled, 1- to 14-Cell Bidirectional Buck-Boost Battery
Charge Controller, data sheet.
2. Texas Instruments, LiFePO4 Design Considerations, application note.

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