3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
Conductive vs HIPS
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Conductive filamentSPECIALTY | HIPSABS |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $170.36/kg median; $89.99–$796.00/kg across 4 dated product listings | $29.99/kg median; $27.99–$32.00/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | A carbon-filled compound conductive by volume rather than merely dissipative; Proto-pasta's is PLA-based, Recreus's and NinjaTek's are TPU, and add:north's Koltron G1 does not state its base polymer[1][2][3][4] | High-impact polystyrene — polystyrene toughened with a butadiene rubber phase[5][6] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.04 (ISO 1183)[5] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 90–181 for the carbon-filled grades; add:north's Koltron G1 sits far above at 796 because it is sold only in 100 and 250 g coils[7][8][9] | 1 kg spools cluster near 31[10][11] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 90–796 across brands; Proto-pasta conductive PLA 90 at 1 kg, Recreus Conductive Filaflex 160 at 500 g, NinjaTek Eel 181 at 1 kg, add:north Koltron G1 796 at 250 g[7][2][8][9] | 28–32 across brands; YXPOLYER 28, Push Plastic 30, 3DXTech 32[11][10][12] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[7][2] | Available from several mainstream brands[10][11] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 kg spools[7][2][8][9] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 1 and 3 kg spools[11][10] |
| Typical applications | Capacitive touch surfaces, low-current traces, EMI shielding and static-safe fixtures[1] | Break-away and d-limonene-soluble support for ABS and ASA, and a light model material in its own right[6] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 230–245 (Simplify3D)[13] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 100–115 (Simplify3D)[13] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[1] | Enclosure recommended[14] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | Part cooling fan not required[13] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | Glue stick, glass plate, Kapton tape or PET sheets[13] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — needs adhesion aid or draught shield[14] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[13] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Slight — HIPS oozes less than ABS[13][15] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[1] | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[14] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass acceptable; hardened steel for volume work[1] | Brass fine indefinitely[14] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Moderately abrasive — conductive carbon filler[1] | Non-abrasive[14] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Low — Proto-pasta states the carbon-filled grade prints on standard PLA settings with no special nozzle required[1] | Low — no special hot-end required, no drybox and no hardened nozzle, and 3DXTech states drying is not needed[13][16][6] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Slightly sensitive[13] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | No special hot-end required[13] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Not documented | Low (0.1–0.3 %) — Simplify3D lists water resistance as a headline property[13] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[17] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker rates PLA low-sensitivity and publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; absorbed water flashes to steam and shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[17] | Polymaker rates ABS moderate-sensitivity and publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; absorbed water flashes to steam in the hotend and shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[17] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed with desiccant; less critical than for the polyamides[17] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 40 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[5] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 1350 (printed XY, ISO 527) — the lowest modulus of the styrenics here[5] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 18 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[5] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 70 (printed XY, ISO 178)[5] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 1600 (printed XY, ISO 178)[5] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Brittle — snaps with little warning; carbon-black loading at conductive levels embrittles PLA[1] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[5] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — no printed-HIPS creep test found; Tg of 100 °C keeps room-temperature service far below softening[5][13] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[5] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Rigid[5] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 100 (DSC)[5] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | Amorphous — no melting point[5] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | Bounded by a glass transition of 100 °C; no loaded-bar service figure is published for HIPS[5] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published[5] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — polystyrene yellows and chalks under UV[18] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Dissolves completely in d-limonene — the basis of its use as a soluble support[6] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food safe[18] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[18] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[18] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Conductive rather than dissipative — Proto-pasta sells the grade as electrically conductive composite PLA[1] | Surface resistance above 10¹³ ohm/sq — insulating (ASTM D257)[5] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[19] | High — hazardous VOC such as styrene; enclosure and filtration needed[19] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | 12–113 styrene, the range measured across ABS and the one HIPS filament tested[19] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈4 × 10⁹ median for the HIPS filament tested, an order of magnitude below ABS but forty times PLA[19] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Styrene was the only dominant VOC identified for the HIPS filament tested[19] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[19] | Enclosure with carbon and HEPA filtration[19] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Conductive carbon filler is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[1] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands and paints readily, like ABS[18] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Solvent-welds with d-limonene, and with acetone via its polystyrene backbone[13][6] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | d-limonene attacks the surface; acetone smoothing is far less effective than on ABS[6][13] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Used as the support material itself — dissolves in d-limonene, or breaks away from ABS and ASA[6] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Chloroform dissolves PLA-based grades, leaving the carbon black; TPU-based grades need DMF, NMP or THF. Laboratory reagents.[20][21] | d-limonene, 12–24 h submerged with occasional agitation; acetone also dissolves it, and xylene does so at 23 °C.[22][23][24] |
| Softened or crazed by | Acetone and ethyl acetate plasticise a PLA-based grade; a TPU-based grade swells in toluene, esters and alcohols.[20][21] | Limonene also disrupts layer adhesion in some ABS and ASA grades, so an ABS model can flake apart in the same bath.[25] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — neither PLA nor TPU has a workshop-safe welding or smoothing solvent.[20][21] | Limonene welds and lightly etches it; acetone welds through the polystyrene backbone but smooths less well than ABS.[22][25] |
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
- Electrically Conductive Composite PLA — product page and technical data Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · tds
- Recreus product catalogue Recreus · 2026-08 · vendor
- Eel 3D Printing Filament Technical Specifications NinjaTek · 2026-08 · tds
- Koltron G1 Technical Data Sheet add:north · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXMAX HIPS Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXMAX HIPS — product page 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Proto-pasta product catalogue Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · vendor
- Eel product page — durometer, print guidelines and price NinjaTek · 2026-08 · vendor
- add:north Koltron G1 product page add:north · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Push Plastic product catalogue Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER HIPS product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- HIPS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide Bambu Lab Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- ABS — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Filament Material Guide Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- ABS — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- 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
- Solubility Study of Ingeo Biopolymer Grades in Common Organic Solvents (NWPD003) NatureWorks · 2019-10 · tds
- Elastollan — Chemical properties: swelling and chemical resistance BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- D-Limonene — FDM post-processing guide Filament2Print · 2026-08 · review
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- US 5,278,282 Polymer recycling by selective dissolution — xylene dissolution temperatures Nauman & Lynch, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · 1994-01 · paper
- HIPS — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc