3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
Conductive vs PC-CF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Conductive filamentSPECIALTY | Carbon-fibre PC (PC-CF)PC |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $170.36/kg median; $89.99–$796.00/kg across 4 dated product listings | $62.58/kg median; $34.99–$117.33/kg across 6 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] | Polycarbonate reinforced with chopped carbon fibre[5][6] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.22 (Prusament) and 1.36 (3DXTech), ISO 1183[5][6] |
| 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-equivalent spools span 35–117; the middle of the market is about 63[10][11][12][13][14] |
| 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] | 35–117 across brands; Ambrosia 35, IEMAI 39, YXPOLYER 55, Spectrum PC CF 70, Prusament 94, 3DXTech 117[10][11][12][13][14] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[7][2] | Available from several mainstream brands[10][12][15] |
| 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; 0.75, 0.8 and 1 kg spools[10][12] |
| Typical applications | Capacitive touch surfaces, low-current traces, EMI shielding and static-safe fixtures[1] | Stiff high-temperature structural parts — jigs, drone frames and under-bonnet brackets[5][6] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | Not documented | ±0.04 (Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber)[5] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 285 ± 10 (Prusament)[5] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 110 ± 10 (Prusament)[5] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[1] | Enclosure required (passive)[5][16] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | Off — Prusa allows 0–20 % and warns cooling significantly reduces interlayer adhesion[5] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI with a glue stick or a commercial adhesive[17] |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | High — enclosure needed for reliable large parts; the fibre reduces warping against unfilled PC[5][16] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[17][18] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed; Polymaker flags stringing as a common PC problem[18] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[1] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; hardened nozzle mandatory[16][5] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass acceptable; hardened steel for volume work[1] | Hardened steel required[16] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Moderately abrasive — conductive carbon filler[1] | Highly abrasive — standard CF composite[16] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Low — Proto-pasta states the carbon-filled grade prints on standard PLA settings with no special nozzle required[1] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles; PC already absorbs water from the air and 3DXTech adds a hardened 0.4 mm minimum nozzle, 0.25 mm layers and a 120 °C pre-dry[19][17][20] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Slightly sensitive[17] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | All-metal hot end required (Simplify3D)[17] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Not documented | Low (0.1–0.3 %) — the PC matrix takes up 0.15–0.25 % and 3DXTech specifies a 120 °C, 4 h pre-dry[21][22][19] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 0.11 after 7 days at 24 °C / 22 % RH (Prusa Polymers)[5] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[23] |
| 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[23] | No dry-versus-conditioned figures are published. Polymaker calls PC highly hygroscopic and requires a 70–80 °C dry for 6–8 h; run wet, the loss shows as surface defects and poor layer adhesion[18][23] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Airtight containers with desiccant to prevent reabsorption[18] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 64 ± 3 printed horizontal and 70 ± 3 printed vertical at yield, ISO 527-1 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 73 at break[5][6] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2600 printed horizontal and 3200 printed vertical, ISO 527-1 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 6980[5][6] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 4.6 at yield printed horizontal (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 2.1 at break[5][6] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 94 ± 3 printed horizontal and 130 ± 2 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 85[5][6] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 3500 printed horizontal and 4200 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 6540[5][6] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 12 ± 1 printed horizontal and 17 ± 2 printed vertical, ISO 179-1 notched (Prusament)[5] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Charpy unnotched 32 ± 5 printed horizontal and 35 ± 4 printed vertical (Prusament, ISO 179-1)[5] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 23 ± 2 (Prusa Polymers interlayer adhesion test) — above the 21 ± 2 of unfilled Prusament PC Blend[5][22] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Brittle — snaps with little warning; carbon-black loading at conductive levels embrittles PLA[1] | Moderate[5][6] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | 83 Shore D (Prusa Polymers method), against 79 for unfilled Prusament PC Blend[5][22] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — holds load for years. Room-temperature tensile creep of moulded unfilled PC ran unbroken at 41 MPa until the test was stopped; short carbon fibre raises the flexural modulus from about 2.1 to 3.5-6.5 GPa, which reduces creep strain further[24][5] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good. No fatigue test data was found for a carbon-fibre PC filament; the unfilled polymer is rated Good on the same scale[24] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Rigid[5] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 114 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa, Prusament)[5] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 106 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa, Prusament), against 93 for unfilled Prusament PC Blend[5][22] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 127 (3DXTech, DSC)[6] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 113 — Prusa publishes this as the temperature resistance of Prusament PC Blend[22] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Degrades within weeks outdoors unless stabilised[18] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, solvents and fuels; Polymaker rates it good against weak acids[18] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Bisphenol-A polycarbonate is not offered as food-contact filament[18] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[18] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Mechanically recyclable but 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 10⁹ ohm/sq — not static-dissipative (3DXTech, ASTM D257)[6] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[25] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[25] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈4 × 10¹⁰ median — the highest ultrafine-particle rate of the nine filaments in the chamber study, above every ABS tested[25] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[25] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[25][16] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Conductive carbon filler is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[1] | Carbon fibre is bound in the matrix; sanding dust should not be inhaled[6] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands and machines well; the toughness means it cuts rather than chips[17] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; dichloromethane solvent-welds PC but is a laboratory reagent[17] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[17] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Prints its own supports; 3DXTech sells a dedicated PC break-away support[17] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Chloroform dissolves PLA-based grades, leaving the carbon black; TPU-based grades need DMF, NMP or THF. Laboratory reagents.[26][27] | Dichloromethane and chloroform dissolve the matrix and leave the fibre; DMF and dioxane do the same (Covestro).[28] |
| Softened or crazed by | Acetone and ethyl acetate plasticise a PLA-based grade; a TPU-based grade swells in toluene, esters and alcohols.[26][27] | Methanol, butyl acetate, ether, 1 % NaOH and phthalate plasticisers stress-crack it; acetone, MEK and xylene swell it.[28] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — neither PLA nor TPU has a workshop-safe welding or smoothing solvent.[26][27] | Dichloromethane cement welds the resin, but the fibre keeps the joint from flowing closed. Controlled carcinogen.[29] |
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
- Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Technical Datasheet v2.0 Prusa Polymers · 2023-04 · tds
- CarbonX Carbon Fiber ezPC Polycarbonate Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- 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
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 2026-08 · vendor
- Spectrum PC CF Carbon Black, 1.75 mm / 250 g 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI CF-PC 3D Printing Filament product page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PC CF product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- Filastruder product catalogue Filastruder · 2026-08 · vendor
- ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide Bambu Lab Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Polycarbonate — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PC — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- CARBONX ezPC+CF — product page (print recommendations) 3DXTech · 2026-08 · doc
- Composite materials filled with carbon, kevlar or glass Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet V2.0 — PC Bambu Lab · 2026-08 · tds
- Prusament PC Blend Technical Datasheet v1.1 Prusa Polymers · 2022-02 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Experimental data for creep and dynamic mechanical properties of polycarbonate and polycarbonate/ABS Data in Brief 42:108264 · 2022-06 · paper
- 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
- Makrolon — The chemical resistance (Makrolon 2800, 6 days at 23 °C and 50 °C) Covestro · 2016-12 · tds
- Weld-On 3 Acrylic Plastic Cement — technical data sheet (shipped as dichloromethane) IPS Corporation · 2002-07 · tds