3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
BVOH vs PA-CF ESD
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | BVOH (soluble support)SUPPORT | ESD-safe CF nylonPA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $165.72/kg median; $165.72–$165.72/kg across 1 dated product listings | $129.98/kg median; $129.98–$129.98/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymer — a vinyl alcohol copolymer that dissolves faster and in cooler water than straight PVA[1] | Carbon-filled polyamide compounded to a static-dissipative resistivity — Polymaker's grade uses a PA612 matrix[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.10 (ISO 1183)[2] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 166[1] | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 130[3] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 166 at Fiberlogy's 500 g pricing on 3DJake[1] | 130 at Polymaker's 0.5 kg pricing[3] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[1] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[3] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5 kg spools[1] | 1.75 mm; 0.5 kg spools[3] |
| Typical applications | Dissolvable support where PVA dissolves too slowly, and for materials PVA bonds to poorly[1] | Electronics jigs and trays that also need nylon toughness and heat resistance[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[4] | Enclosure required (passive)[5] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[6][5] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[6] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[5] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[7] | Expert / industrial hardware only[5][7] |
| Extruder requirement | A second extruder or a tool changer[4] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[4] | Hardened steel required — Polymaker measures brass nozzle life at about 9 h on PA612-ESD and recommends hardened steel or ruby[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[4] | Highly abrasive — carbon-filled nylon composite; Polymaker puts brass nozzle life at roughly 9 h on PA612-ESD[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[7] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[7] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[6] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[6] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the vinyl alcohol backbone is what makes it soluble[7][4] | High (0.8–2 %) — the PA612 matrix sits between PA6 and PA12[8][9] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Not a structural material; no dry-versus-conditioned data is published[7] | Polymaker publishes dry and wet printed blocks for PA612-ESD itself: at 4.64 % moisture tensile falls 84.3 → 73.6 MPa and modulus 4294 → 3731 MPa[2][9] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant at all times[7] | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[7] |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Not documented | Polymaker specifies an 80–100 °C dry and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the wet data it does publish is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[10][11] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 84.3 ± 2.3 printed XY dry (annealed 100 °C/16 h), 73.6 ± 2.3 conditioned to 4.64 % moisture, ISO 527[2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 4293.7 ± 116.4 printed XY dry and 3730.8 ± 156.2 conditioned, ISO 527[2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 3.0 ± 0.1 printed XY dry and 4.2 ± 0.4 conditioned, ISO 527[2] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 5.9 ± 0.4 printed XY dry and 4.9 ± 0.3 conditioned, ISO 179 notched[2] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Charpy unnotched 24.1 ± 2.4 printed XY and 4.5 ± 0.2 printed Z (ISO 179)[2] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 21.5 ± 2.7 printed Z dry — only a quarter of XY, the most anisotropic nylon composite here; 19.2 ± 1.6 conditioned[2] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Brittle — snaps with little warning; elongation 3.0 % in XY and 1.4 % in Z[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785); no figure is published for a conductive carbon-filled nylon filament[12] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger rates its PA66-CF30 compound for sustained static and dynamic load at 110 °C continuous service; the PA612 matrix here still takes up 4.64 % moisture at conditioning, which softens it[13][2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger states carbon-filled PA66 compounds have improved fatigue strength in tension, flexure and compression[13] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Rigid[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 26 (printed Z against XY tensile)[2] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 157.0 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa)[2] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 125.4 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa)[2] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 41.8 (DSC)[2] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 187.3 melting (DSC); Vicat 190.0 (ISO 306)[2] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[10] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[5] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[5] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Dissolves or disintegrates — by design[1] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food-contact certified as filament[5] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[5] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[5] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Static-dissipative — the reason the grade exists; Polymaker's insulating nylon composites sit above 10¹² ohm by contrast[2][8] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[14] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[14] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[14] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[14] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[14] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[14] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[14] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Not documented | Fibre is bound in the matrix; sanding dust should not be inhaled[10] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[6] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[6] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[6] |
| Support material pairing | This is the support material[1] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Water: about 1 g of BVOH per 20 g of water, several hours; warmer water is faster but must not be too hot.[15][1] | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[16] |
| Softened or crazed by | Nothing else — a vinyl alcohol copolymer resists organic solvents, so IPA or acetone will not touch it.[17] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[16] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — water is a removal solvent, not a welding one.[15] | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[16] |
Material entries describe families or representative grades, not an interchangeable specification for every spool. Test methods, orientations and conditions may differ. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Fiberlogy BVOH Natural — product page 3DJake International · 2026-08 · vendor
- Fiberon PA612-ESD Technical Data Sheet V1.0 Polymaker · 2025-06 · tds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 GF30 black (PA66-GF30) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- TECACOMP PA66 CF30 black — injection-moulding compound Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments (Azimi et al.) Environmental Science & Technology 50(3) 1260-1268 · 2016-01 · paper
- Water soluble (BVOH/PVA) — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Polyvinyl alcohol — KURARAY POVAL application guide Kuraray · 2026-08 · tds