3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA-CF ESD vs PVDF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | ESD-safe CF nylonPA | PVDFENGINEERING |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $129.98/kg median; $129.98–$129.98/kg across 1 dated product listings | $250.67/kg median; $250.67–$250.67/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Carbon-filled polyamide compounded to a static-dissipative resistivity — Polymaker's grade uses a PA612 matrix[1] | Polyvinylidene fluoride — a semi-crystalline fluoropolymer[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.10 (ISO 1183)[1] | 1.71 (ISO 1183) — the densest unfilled filament in the dataset[2] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 130[4] | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 251[5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 130 at Polymaker's 0.5 kg pricing[4] | 251 at 3DXTech's 750 g pricing — the most expensive material in the whole dataset[5] |
| Market availability1–5 | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[4] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[5][6] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 mm; 0.5 kg spools[4] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 750 g spools[5] |
| Typical applications | Electronics jigs and trays that also need nylon toughness and heat resistance[1] | Chemical-plant fittings, semiconductor handling and parts needing outstanding UV and chemical resistance[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 70–110 (3DXTech FluorX)[2] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[7] | Enclosure required (passive)[2] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[8][7] | Not documented |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | High — enclosure needed for reliable large parts[2] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[8] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[7] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Expert / industrial hardware only[7][9] | Expert / industrial hardware only[2][3] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required — Polymaker measures brass nozzle life at about 9 h on PA612-ESD and recommends hardened steel or ruby[1] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — carbon-filled nylon composite; Polymaker puts brass nozzle life at roughly 9 h on PA612-ESD[1] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[9] | Low — 3DXTech lists no special nozzle concerns, no minimum layer height and states drying is not required[6] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[8] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[8] | Not documented |
| Other hardware wear | Not documented | Hydrogen fluoride released on overheating is extremely corrosive and will attack hotend and enclosure metalwork as well as people[3] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | High (0.8–2 %) — the PA612 matrix sits between PA6 and PA12[10][11] | Negligible (<0.1 % EMC) — fluoropolymers are essentially non-hygroscopic[2] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | 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[1][11] | Not applicable in practice — 3DXTech states drying is not required for PVDF, so there is no moisture-driven strength loss to measure[6] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[9] | Not documented |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | 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[12][13] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 84.3 ± 2.3 printed XY dry (annealed 100 °C/16 h), 73.6 ± 2.3 conditioned to 4.64 % moisture, ISO 527[1] | 51 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 4293.7 ± 116.4 printed XY dry and 3730.8 ± 156.2 conditioned, ISO 527[1] | 2450 (printed XY, ISO 527)[2] |
| Elongation at break% | 3.0 ± 0.1 printed XY dry and 4.2 ± 0.4 conditioned, ISO 527[1] | 25 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[2] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 50 (printed XY, ISO 178)[2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 1800 (printed XY, ISO 178)[2] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | 5.9 ± 0.4 printed XY dry and 4.9 ± 0.3 conditioned, ISO 179 notched[1] | Not documented |
| Other impact data | Charpy unnotched 24.1 ± 2.4 printed XY and 4.5 ± 0.2 printed Z (ISO 179)[1] | Izod 133 J/m on extruded PVDF stock, converted from 2.49 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[14] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 21.5 ± 2.7 printed Z dry — only a quarter of XY, the most anisotropic nylon composite here; 19.2 ± 1.6 conditioned[1] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Brittle — snaps with little warning; elongation 3.0 % in XY and 1.4 % in Z[1] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785); no figure is published for a conductive carbon-filled nylon filament[15] | Rockwell M79 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D785)[14] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | 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[16][1] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Good. Ensinger states carbon-filled PA66 compounds have improved fatigue strength in tension, flexure and compression[16] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Slightly flexible in thin sections[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | 26 (printed Z against XY tensile)[1] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 157.0 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa)[1] | 149 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 300 °F)[14] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 125.4 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa)[1] | 113 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 235 °F)[14] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 41.8 (DSC)[1] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 187.3 melting (DSC); Vicat 190.0 (ISO 306)[1] | 170 melting (ISO 11357)[2] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 149 long term and short term on extruded PVDF stock (converted from 300 °F)[14] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 127.8 (extruded PVDF stock, ASTM D696; source states 7.1e-5 in/in/°F) — the highest thermal expansion of any engineering polymer in this dataset[14] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[12] | UL 94 V-0 on extruded PVDF stock; Ensinger lists inherent flame resistance[14] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[7] | Excellent — designed for permanent outdoor use; Ensinger lists good UV and weather resistance and high gamma radiation resistance for PVDF stock[2][14] |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[7] | Outstanding — resistant to most acids, solvents and oxidising agents, which is the reason to use it[2] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — essentially unaffected[2] |
| Food contact | Not food-contact certified as filament[7] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[7] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Not accepted in household plastic collection[7] | Not documented |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Static-dissipative — the reason the grade exists; Polymaker's insulating nylon composites sit above 10¹² ohm by contrast[1][10] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[17] | Very high — toxic decomposition products; local exhaust mandatory. Above 315 °C thermal decomposition yields hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide[3] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[17] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[17] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[17] | Above 315 °C: hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen cyanide, phenols, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and dense smoke. HF is extremely corrosive, its skin burns may not be immediately visible or painful, and exposure can be fatal by skin absorption, inhalation or ingestion[3] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[17] | Local exhaust to outside / fume hood — the SDS states local exhaust is preferred[3] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Fibre is bound in the matrix; sanding dust should not be inhaled[12] | Molten polymer causes thermal burns and must not be pulled off the skin. If HF is detected during a decomposition event, cut the heat but keep the extraction running, ventilate, and clear non-essential people from the area[3] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[8] | Not documented |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[8] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[8] | Not documented |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | The processing window sits well below the 315 °C decomposition threshold, so nozzle temperature must be controlled rather than raised to chase flow[2][3] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[18] | THF, MEK, DMF, DMAc, NMP, DMSO and trimethyl phosphate dissolve 5–10 wt% at ambient — Arkema's active solvents, all lab reagents.[19] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[18] | Acetone, MIBK, cyclohexanone, butyl acetate and glycol ethers swell it; alkalis above pH 12 attack the homopolymer.[19][20] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[18] | None for the workshop — the active solvents (NMP, DMAc, DMF) are laboratory reagents used for casting membranes, not joints.[19] |
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
- Fiberon PA612-ESD Technical Data Sheet V1.0 Polymaker · 2025-06 · tds
- FluorX PVDF Technical Data Sheet v3 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- FluorX PVDF Safety Data Sheet v1.1 3DXTech · 2026-08 · msds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- FluorX PVDF — product page 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- TECAFLON PVDF natural — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · 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
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Kynar PVDF — Design properties: solubility and irradiation (active and latent solvents) Arkema · 2026-08 · tds
- Kynar PVDF resin — chemical and fuel resistance Arkema · 2026-08 · tds