3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA aramid vs PETG-ESD
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Aramid-fibre nylonPA | ESD-safe PETGPETG |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $102.99/kg median; $65.98–$140.00/kg across 2 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Aramid-fibre reinforced polyamide[1] | PETG compounded with a conductive filler to bring surface resistivity into the static-dissipative range[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.24 (Fiberon) and 1.28 (3DXTech), ISO 1183[2][3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 66–140; the middle of the market is about 103[4][5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 66–140 across brands; Fiberon PETG-ESD 66, 3DXSTAT ESD-PETG 140[4][5] |
| Market availability1–5 | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide — no aramid-filled nylon filament was found in any catalogue searched; the aramid filaments that do exist in the retail market use an ASA matrix[4][5] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[4][5] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 mm; 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 3 kg spools[4][5] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Electronics fixtures, trays and jigs handled around static-sensitive components[2][3] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 250–290 (Fiberon)[2] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 70–80 (Fiberon); 70 (3DXTech)[2][3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — as for every nylon[1] | Open frame is fine — Fiberon specifies room-temperature chamber[2] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | Textured PEI, satin or powder-coated sheets; on smooth PEI a glue stick acts as a release agent[6][7] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | Not documented | Fiberon rates the material to 500 mm/s, equivalent to 40 on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer — a machine-limited headline rather than a measured melt rate[2][8] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs the right surface or a thin adhesive — the problem is releasing the part, not sticking it[6][7] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed; Polymaker names stringing as PETG's common quirk[7] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile; resistivity depends on getting the nozzle temperature right[2] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required — no aramid-filled nylon datasheet was obtainable; Polymaker measures about 9 h of brass nozzle life on its fibre-filled nylons[9] | Hardened steel required[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — fibre-reinforced nylon composite[9] | Moderately abrasive — conductive carbon filler[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles; nylon already needs a drybox and Prusa names kevlar among the fibres that raise nozzle-clogging risk[10] | Low — 3DXTech lists no special nozzle concerns and no minimum layer height for its ESD-PETG, only a 65 °C pre-dry[11] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Slightly sensitive[12] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | No special hot-end required[12] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the polyamide matrix governs uptake[13] | Moderate (0.3–0.8 %) — the PETG matrix reaches 0.40 % saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH and 3DXTech specifies a 65 °C, 4 h pre-dry[6][11] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 0.41 equilibrium water absorption (Fiberon PETG-ESD)[2] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 65 °C for 3 h (Fiberon)[2] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[13] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker's printed dry-versus-wet blocks for its CoPA nylon show what conditioning does to the family: tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa and modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, with notched Charpy rising 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m². Fibre reinforcement reduces but does not remove the effect[14][15] | Polymaker groups PETG with nylon, PVA and TPU as highly hygroscopic; no dry-versus-conditioned strength figures are published for this grade and the loss shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[13] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed with desiccant; Polymaker groups PETG with the highly hygroscopic materials[13][7] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 36.1 ± 0.9 printed XY, ISO 527 (Fiberon); 3DXTech quotes 50 at break[2][3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 1983 ± 75 printed XY, ISO 527 (Fiberon)[2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 7.3 ± 0.7 printed XY, ISO 527 (Fiberon); 3DXTech quotes 13 at break[2][3] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 54.0 ± 2.5 printed XY, ISO 178 (Fiberon)[2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 1651 ± 141 printed XY, ISO 178 (Fiberon)[2] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 5.7 ± 0.5 printed XY, ISO 179, notched (Fiberon)[2] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Charpy unnotched 29.3 ± 2.2 printed XY (Fiberon, ISO 179)[2] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 20.7 ± 0.6 printed Z, ISO 527 (Fiberon)[2] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[2] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Below average — no ESD-grade creep test; unfilled PETG sagged from 12 to 17.1–20.4 mm over 5 days at 1.25 kg[16][17][18][19] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — no ESD-grade S-N curve; unfilled printed PETG ran 79 000–193 000 cycles at 30 % of tensile strength[20] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Slightly flexible in thin sections[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 57 (Fiberon, printed Z against XY tensile)[2] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 76 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa, Fiberon)[2] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 72 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa, Fiberon)[2] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 77 (Fiberon) and 80 (3DXTech), DSC[2][3] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | Amorphous — no melting point; Vicat 86 (Fiberon, ISO 306)[2] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for standard grades[21] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands acids, alkalis, oils and UV exposure[7] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not certified for food contact as filament[7] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[7] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[7] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Surface resistivity falls with nozzle temperature: 7.0×10⁶–1.6×10⁷ ohm at 250 °C, 3.2×10⁵–4.7×10⁵ at 270 °C and below 1×10⁴ at 290 °C (Fiberon); 3DXTech quotes 10⁷–10⁹ ohm/sq[2][3] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[22] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[22] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[22] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[22] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[22] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[22] | Open a window / occasional ventilation[22] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Not documented | Conductive carbon filler is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[2] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands poorly — the material is tough and gums rather than powders[12] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds PETG cleanly[12] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[12] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | Prints its own supports; Polymaker rates PolyDissolve S1 for PETG[12] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Nozzle temperature has to be held steady — it moves surface resistivity by three orders of magnitude[2] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[23] | No common workshop solvent; 1,2-dichloroethane destroys it inside a week and dichloromethane — a carcinogen — dissolves the surface.[24][25] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[23] | Acetone (+16 % weight over 1 year at 23 °C), ethyl acetate, toluene and DMF swell and soften it; methanol crazes it.[24] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[23] | Dichloromethane brushed on is the only agent that smooths PETG — a controlled carcinogen, not workshop stock.[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
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PETG-ESD Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXSTAT ESD-PETG Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusament PETG Technical Datasheet v1.1 Prusa Polymers · 2022-02 · tds
- PETG — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Max volumetric speed Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Composite materials filled with carbon, kevlar or glass Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- 3DXSTAT ESD-PETG — product page (print recommendations) 3DXTech · 2026-08 · doc
- PET and PETG — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PCTG vs PETG comparison — results spreadsheet My Tech Fun (Igor Gaspar) · 2026-08 · test
- Extrudr PETG vs PCTG vs XPETG-CF — results spreadsheet My Tech Fun (Igor Gaspar) · 2026-08 · test
- Prusament PETG-CF vs PETG V0 vs PETG — results spreadsheet My Tech Fun (Igor Gaspar) · 2026-08 · test
- BambuLab PETG Basic vs Translucent vs PETG-CF — results spreadsheet My Tech Fun (Igor Gaspar) · 2026-08 · test
- Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Polymeric Materials — PLA and PETG — For Biomechanical Applications Polymers 16(13):1868 · 2024-06 · paper
- Prusament PETG V0 Technical Datasheet Prusa Polymers · 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
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Eastman Spectar copolyester — Chemical resistance (unstressed bars, 1 year at 23 °C) Eastman Chemical Company · 2026-08 · tds
- Improve your 3D prints with chemical smoothing Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc