How does a USB-C to Lighting Adapter work / How to replace them?
Hey @appa first of all you have to know the differences between USB-C and Lightning connectors concerning charging applications as you intend to use. So i will not point to any other information rather than powering or charging purposes. Just to not confuse you with too much un-needed informations.
USB-C has 24 pins that can handle up to 100w of power (20v/5A), on the other hand Lightnings have 8 pins that are able to handle just 12w of power. So replacing Lightning by USB-C could be safe.
Secondly referring to USB-C connector pinouts &quot;figure 1&quot; and Lightning connector pinouts &quot;figure 2&quot; you can connect the power lines together (GND - &gt; GND &amp; VBUS -&gt; PWR) and see if this could deliver only power to airpods charging device, although I have never tried to do so and I recommend you to take adequate safety precautions as this could cause real injury or  might damage your airpods, charging device, or supply device.


Also I think the chips that you are talking about are for communication purposes, it might not affect your desire to power up your device.
For more information about USB-C and Lightning comparisons refer to this article Link