Material selection · Service environment

Selecting FDM polymers for chemical exposure

Choose candidates by the named liquid, concentration, temperature, exposure time and load; separate immersion observations from stress cracking, permeation and retained properties.

3D Printing Info · Published 2026-10-18 · Revised 2026-10-18

Editorial synthesis assisted by AI and checked against the cited original sources. This site performed no original material tests.

Specify the exposure before choosing the polymer

Engineering interpretation. For a fixture near a cleaning station, begin with the actual cleaner and dilution, its hottest contact temperature, dwell time, cleaning frequency and assembly load. Then seek a test for that exact grade and print route. A family compatibility chart is an initial screen; it cannot supply the retained stiffness, joint force or leakage limit of the part.

The available printed-grade experiments below can reject some candidate/exposure combinations and motivate others for testing. They do not support a common numerical ranking of PP, PVDF, POM, PA, PC, PPS and PEEK. Unloaded immersion also leaves environmental stress cracking unresolved. ISO [details]

What exact printed-grade exposure tests establish

These are source observations rather than a resistance score. The Prusament rows share a test program; the Apium row belongs to a separate experiment. Missing concentrations, stress and conditioning remain visible, so no equality of exposure severity is implied. Prusa Polymers Team [details]

Named exposures on printed grades

Manufacturer experiments; observations have different endpoints and are not numerical design allowables. Applied exposure stress is not reported in either program.

Grade, process & evidence	Exposure conditions	Reported observation & boundary
Prusament ASAProcess: FFFOrientation: XY (source label; raster direction not specified)Conditioning: Not reportedManufacturer test	Method: Whole-coupon liquid immersion, followed by ex-situ evaluationChemical: AcetoneConcentration: Not reportedDuration: Program intervals: 1 h, 7 h, 24 h, 7 days; time to collapse not specifiedTemperature: About 23 °CApplied stress: Not reported	Specimens collapsed; tensile/impact tests could not be completed. This is a failure observation, not a zero-strength measurement. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
Prusament PETGProcess: FFFOrientation: XY (source label; raster direction not specified)Conditioning: Not reportedManufacturer test	Method: Whole-coupon liquid immersion, followed by ex-situ evaluationChemical: Isopropyl alcoholConcentration: 99%; percentage basis not specifiedDuration: 7 daysTemperature: About 23 °CApplied stress: Not reported	Supplier reports loss of tensile strength and impact toughness; no exact retention is transcribed from the plotted curves. This evidence does not qualify repeated wiping or loaded exposure. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
Prusament PC BlendProcess: FFFOrientation: XY (source label; raster direction not specified)Conditioning: Not reportedManufacturer test	Method: Whole-coupon liquid immersion, followed by ex-situ evaluationChemical: AcetoneConcentration: Not reportedDuration: 24 h and longer, within a program ending at 7 daysTemperature: About 23 °CApplied stress: Not reported	Tensile strength declined, with further loss at longer exposure. Control Charpy nonbreak results cannot be treated as exact impact values. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
Apium PEEK 450 NaturalProcess: FFFOrientation: Not reportedConditioning: Not reportedManufacturer test	Method: Liquid immersion; compatibility evaluation timing and recovery state not specifiedChemical: Propylene glycolConcentration: 99.5%; percentage basis not specifiedDuration: At least 7 daysTemperature: 24.5 °C in prose; 24 °C in tableApplied stress: Not reported	Supplier classification R, with no reported visible/mass/dimensional change. Detection limits and retained tensile data are absent; this does not establish zero absorption or a design allowable. Apium Additive Technologies [details]

Engineering interpretation. A collapsed specimen is not recorded as zero retained strength, and “no reported change” is not a measured zero with a known detection limit. The selection boundary follows what the source actually observed.

Read the test boundary before using the result

Prusa used 100% infill, two perimeters and 0.2 mm layers with material profiles, then tested tensile strength to ISO 527 and Charpy impact to ISO 179. A per-endpoint sample count, scatter, exact revisions and recovery/drying interval are absent. Changes after removal from a bath need not equal properties while immersed. The public graphs are not a tabulated design dataset. Prusa Polymers Team [details]

Apium used DIN EN ISO 527-2:2012-06 type 1BA coupons, 100% infill, three layer-height groups and three specimens per condition. Its public page gives compatibility/appearance observations, without publishing retained tensile endpoints. Unknown orientation and annealing prevent transferring the result to another printed PEEK process. Apium Additive Technologies [details]

Immersion, stress cracking and permeation answer different questions

Immersion asks how exposure changes a coupon. Environmental stress cracking asks what happens with simultaneous stress or imposed deformation. A screw boss, snap fit or clamped housing can therefore need a stressed exposure test even when an unrestrained coupon survives. ISO 175 explicitly separates those scopes. ISO [details]

Permeation concerns transport through the polymer; leakage can also follow print interfaces or connected voids. A dimensionally stable coupon and a retained tensile result do not measure either flow path. Arkema likewise distinguishes chemical compatibility from permeability and recommends validating the actual mixture and operating conditions. Arkema [details]

Engineering interpretation. For a liquid-handling prototype, measure both material change and the assembled wall/seal leakage at the intended temperature and pressure. Treat a coating as part of that tested assembly, including joints and defects; a successful coupon alone leaves those paths unresolved.

How to build a useful candidate list

PP: BCN3D PP GF30 is a concrete filament candidate where its stiffness and printing route suit the geometry. Its supplier page gives application positioning, not a named-cleaner exposure matrix. Request that matrix and test the exact 30% glass-filled grade; do not transfer its behavior to unfilled PP. BCN3D [details]

PVDF: Kynar guidance is useful for screening a defined resin/chemical combination and identifying mixture, cycling and stress questions. The industrial resin data do not identify the fabrication route of a printed filament coupon. Obtain the actual filament formulation and printed-wall retention/permeation evidence before selecting PVDF for containment. Arkema [details]

POM and PPS: TECAFORM AH natural and TECATRON natural show how industrial stock materials can enter the shortlist. The former is a POM-C machining material; the latter is extruded PPS. Their broad supplier resistance descriptions do not establish a concentration, dwell time or retained-property limit for FFF parts. Ensinger [details] · Ensinger [details]

Engineering interpretation. PA and PC: choose an exact nylon chemistry or PC blend and include its initial moisture/annealing state. The PC Blend acetone observation is a useful exclusion signal for that tested material. The nylon moisture article addresses water conditioning, which cannot substitute for an arbitrary solvent or formulated-cleaner test. No PA6-versus-PA12 chemical ranking is established here. Prusa Polymers Team [details]

PEEK: the Apium result is a specific route for screening PEEK 450 Natural in propylene glycol. Unspecified brake, transmission or disinfection fluids on the same page cannot define compatibility with every formulation sold under those names. Ask for the actual fluid composition and retained mechanical test before extending the claim. Apium Additive Technologies [details]

Turn a shortlist into a release decision

Engineering interpretation. Write an exposure specification: product and chemical identities, concentration and basis, mixture, liquid/vapor/splash regime, time, temperature, pressure, cleaning cycles and applied load or fixed strain.
Engineering interpretation. Print controls and exposed coupons with the intended wall thickness, interfaces, orientation, batch, drying and annealing. Record mass and critical dimensions before exposure, while wet when relevant, and after the defined recovery interval. A dry-back result cannot silently replace the wet-service result.
Engineering interpretation. Define acceptance around the function: retained strength/stiffness and impact where needed, crack initiation under assembly strain, seal preload, dimensional fit and permeation/leakage. Compare like methods and keep unexposed controls through the same thermal history.
Engineering interpretation. Repeat the combined chemical, temperature and mechanical exposure on the representative component. Select test duration and inspections from the actual duty; a short immersion observation supplies neither a universal safety factor nor a service-life prediction.

Sources and evidence records

These records distinguish supplier tests, independent experiments and engineering interpretation. “Not reported” identifies a source gap; it is not an assumed test condition.

Chemical resistance of 3D printing materials
Prusa Polymers Team · Manufacturer test · document date: 2021-10-18 · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
Prusa Polymers Team
FFF Prusament specimens in XY, 100% infill, two perimeters and 0.2 mm layers; ISO 527 tensile and ISO 179 Charpy tests following immersion. More than 400 specimens per material across the program is not the sample count for each endpoint. Exposure load, concentration basis, specific test revisions, individual-group count, scatter, recovery/drying interval and original numerical curve data are not reported. The indicative family chart mixes measurements with literature and is not the exact-grade coupon dataset.
Chemical Resistance of FFF 3D Printed PEEK Parts
Apium Additive Technologies · Manufacturer test · document date: Not reported · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
Apium Additive Technologies
Apium PEEK 450 Natural FFF coupons (printer for this immersion cohort unspecified); DIN EN ISO 527-2:2012-06 type 1BA geometry, 100% infill, 0.10/0.15/0.20 mm layer-height groups and three specimens per condition. The public page reports qualitative compatibility and appearance/mass/dimension observations; retained tensile results, detection limits, orientation, annealing, recovery interval and applied exposure stress are absent.
ISO 175:2010 — Plastics — Methods of test for the determination of the effects of immersion in liquid chemicals
ISO · Test method scope · document date: Not reported · version: Edition 3, 2010-10 · accessed 2026-10-18
ISO
Public scope of edition 3 (October 2010), confirmed in 2026; the full standard was not purchased. Covers whole-surface immersion of externally unrestrained solid-plastic specimens and resulting property changes, and excludes environmental stress cracking. No source experiment here is represented as complying with ISO 175 merely because it uses immersion.
Chemical Resistance & Fuel Resistance
Arkema · Manufacturer guidance · document date: Not reported · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
Arkema
Kynar PVDF resin and industrial-system guidance, with separate Kynar 740/Kynar Flex 2850/2800 fuel-retention results. Fabrication route, specimen orientation and tensile test protocol for that table are not identified; it is not a printed-filament qualification.
PP GF30 BCN3D Filaments
BCN3D · Manufacturer guidance · document date: Not reported · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
BCN3D
Supplier application and printing guidance for a filament containing 30% glass fiber; the page supplies no named chemical/concentration/duration/mechanical-retention test matrix.
TECAFORM AH natural — POM-C unfilled
Ensinger · Manufacturer guidance · document date: Not reported · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
Ensinger
Manufacturer stock-shape and machining product page, not FFF filament tests; broad resistance to cleaning agents has no named formulation, exposure duration or retained-property protocol.
TECATRON natural — PPS unfilled
Ensinger · Manufacturer guidance · document date: Not reported · version: Not reported · accessed 2026-10-18
Ensinger
Extruded PPS stock-shape product guidance; not FFF, and no liquid-exposure/retained-property test is assigned by this product page.

Read individual measurement and claim records

prusa chemical protocol: Material-profile FFF coupons in XY were immersed at about 23 °C for 1 h, 7 h, 24 h and 7 days before ISO 527 tensile and ISO 179 Charpy tests. Controls were printed under the same conditions; post-immersion drying and testing interval are unspecified.
Testing process; Test results. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
prusa asa acetone collapse: Prusament ASA specimens collapsed during acetone exposure, preventing the reported mechanical tests; acetone concentration and time to collapse are not specified.
ASA; tensile strength and Charpy impact paragraphs. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
prusa petg alcohol response: The supplier reports lower Prusament PETG tensile strength after seven days in IPA 99%; impact toughness also decreased. The graphs do not supply an exact tabulated retention value for this record.
PETG; tensile strength and Charpy impact paragraphs. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
prusa pc acetone response: Prusament PC Blend tensile strength declined after 24 h in acetone, with further loss during longer exposure. The control Charpy results are instrument-limited nonbreak bounds, not exact retained impact values.
PC Blend; tensile strength and Charpy impact paragraphs. Prusa Polymers Team [details]
apium peek propylene glycol: For Apium PEEK 450 Natural, the supplier lists propylene glycol 99.5% as R (good resistance) in a minimum seven-day room-temperature immersion program. It reports no observed discoloration, peeling/delamination, weight or dimensional change, without resolution or retained-strength values. Prose states 24.5 °C; the table rounds this to 24 °C.
Chemical Testing of 3D Printed PEEK Parts; chemical table and result bullets. Apium Additive Technologies [details]
immersion vs esc: ISO 175 evaluates liquid immersion without external restraint and directs environmental stress cracking to the ISO 22088 series. An unloaded immersion test does not establish performance under assembly strain or sustained service stress.
Abstract / Scope. ISO [details]
kynar mixtures stress permeation: Arkema identifies stress, temperature, concentration, mixtures and cycling as relevant and recommends actual-service trials. Its resin fuel-immersion and permeability guidance does not establish leak tightness or retained properties of a printed PVDF wall.
Factors affecting chemical resistance; Operating parameters; Permeability and tensile strength retention. Arkema [details]
pp gf30 candidate scope: BCN3D offers PP GF30 as a chemically resistant filament for humid/aggressive environments and structural parts. The page does not publish a named-liquid qualification or retained-strength protocol. This filled grade is distinct from unfilled PP.
Overview; Applications; Technical information / Chemical resistance. BCN3D [details]
pom stock candidate scope: TECAFORM AH natural is an unfilled POM-C stock material offered for machining and described as resistant to cleaning agents. This does not qualify a POM filament for any specified cleaner.
Product description; Main Features; Further processing options. Ensinger [details]
pps stock candidate scope: TECATRON natural is an extruded unfilled PPS stock material with manufacturer chemical-resistance positioning. Its process and the absence of an exposure matrix prevent transfer of that claim to printed PPS or PPS-CF.
Product description; Main Features. Ensinger [details]