Electronic – Convert 3v to 5v very high amperage using boost converter

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I am trying to build a power bank that has 3 output USB ports that can provide 2.1 amp each; it has 8 LiPo cells. So total of 2.1×3=6.3amps so basically 7 amps at 5.1v out.

I have built the setup on breadboard but cannot get more than 2 amps out of even one USB port. I have tried making the inductor bigger, in size, triple wire for lower resistance and larger diode and N channel MOSFET.

PWM is with STM8S microcontroller at switching speed of 64kHz using 3mH inductor. I thought that paralleling the inductor, diode and switch would be enough to give more amperage but I'm not seeing that as a result. Instead the result is just 2.1 amps total. Then Schottky diodes starts to become hot or the 3 logic level MOSFETs.

Can the boost converter be useful for low voltage, high amperage or do I have to use transformer based circuit? Or do I need 10 diodes and 10 MOSFETs and a huge inductor for greater current?

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Best Answer

Yes you can use a boost converter. This would be difficult design that required experience. 3.3V requires carefully choosing the MOSFET for threshold levels, most logic level MOSFETS really want 4.5V. 8A of current will produce a lot of heat in a diode so you will need a heatsink and probably a fan. The loop formed by the MOSFET, diode, and output capacitor needs to be small, any excess inductance will increase loss and noise. And finally the output capacitor current is discontinuous so you need capacitors that can handle the RMS current. For this application I would probably not use a diode but instead another MOSFET and find a way to bootstrap the 5V to run the controller and gate drive.

Yes, it can be done. But this is a very advanced project (to do well) without knowing a lot about power electronics.

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