3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA6 vs PVDF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA6 (Nylon 6)PA | PVDFENGINEERING |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $104.00/kg median; $38.99–$136.00/kg across 3 dated product listings | $250.67/kg median; $250.67–$250.67/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 6, ring-opened from caprolactam — the most hygroscopic of the common nylons[1][2] | Polyvinylidene fluoride — a semi-crystalline fluoropolymer[3][4] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.06 (ISO 1183, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[5] | 1.71 (ISO 1183) — the densest unfilled filament in the dataset[3] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 39–136; the middle of the market is about 104, though budget unfilled PA6 has now arrived at 39[6][7] | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 251[6] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 39–136 across brands; YXPOLYER 39, 3DXTech iOn Nylon 6 Alloy 104, WearX Nylon 6 136. Unfilled PA6 filament stays rare — most PA6 reaches the market glass- or carbon-filled[6][7] | 251 at 3DXTech's 750 g pricing — the most expensive material in the whole dataset[6] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[6] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[6][8] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 500 g and 750 g spools[6] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 750 g spools[6] |
| Typical applications | Wear parts, bushings and gears where PA6's toughness and abrasion resistance matter more than dimensional stability[1] | Chemical-plant fittings, semiconductor handling and parts needing outstanding UV and chemical resistance[3] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 220–260 (Polymaker); 225–265 (Simplify3D)[1][9] | Not documented |
| Bed temperature°C | 70–100 (Polymaker); 70–90 (Simplify3D)[1][9] | 70–110 (3DXTech FluorX)[3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[10][1] | Enclosure required (passive)[3] |
| Part cooling fan | Part cooling fan not required (Simplify3D)[9] | Not documented |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[9][1] | Not documented |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | High — enclosure needed for reliable large parts[3] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[9][1] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[1] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; the filament must be kept dry throughout the print[1][11] | Expert / industrial hardware only[3][4] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[1] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[3] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive when unfilled[1] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[3] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup; wet nylon pops and cracks in the melt[12][11] | Low — 3DXTech lists no special nozzle concerns, no minimum layer height and states drying is not required[8] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[9] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[9] | 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[4] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — Polymaker groups nylon with PVA as the most moisture-prone class, and its own PA6-based composites reach 2.35–3.33 % equilibrium[11][13] | Negligible (<0.1 % EMC) — fluoropolymers are essentially non-hygroscopic[3] |
| Drying temperature & time | 100 °C for 8 h (Polymaker CoPA); storage below 20 % RH[10][14] | Not documented |
| Symptoms when wet | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then defects that Polymaker describes as very hard to diagnose[12] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Measured dry against wet on printed specimens at 6.16 % moisture (Polymaker CoPA): tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa, Young's modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, flexural strength 109.8 → 22.6 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m² and elongation 12.7 → 13.2 %[10][12] | Not applicable in practice — 3DXTech states drying is not required for PVDF, so there is no moisture-driven strength loss to measure[8] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant; Polymaker says nylon often needs to stay in a dryer while printing[14][11] | Not documented |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Polymaker requires a 100 °C dry for 8 h and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the published wet data is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[10][14] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 62 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned to 20 °C / 50 % RH gives 67.6 ultimate and 49.3 at yield printed XZ (ASTM D638)[5][15] | 51 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[3] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2110 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2232 printed XZ and 1817 ZX (ASTM D638)[5][15] | 2450 (printed XY, ISO 527)[3] |
| Elongation at break% | 9 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 38 printed XZ against 3.2 in ZX (ASTM D638)[5][15] | 25 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[3] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 78 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 97.2 printed XZ and 82 ZX (ASTM D790)[5][15] | 50 (printed XY, ISO 178)[3] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 2200 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2196 printed XZ and 1879 ZX (ASTM D790)[5][15] | 1800 (printed XY, ISO 178)[3] |
| Other impact data | Izod notched 106 J/m printed XZ against 43 J/m in ZX; unnotched 2873 against 192 J/m (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D256 Method A) — a 15x anisotropy unnotched[15] | Izod 133 J/m on extruded PVDF stock, converted from 2.49 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[16] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 36.5 ultimate and 28.9 at yield printed ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D638)[15] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[1] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[3] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785); no figure is published for a PA6 filament[17] | Rockwell M79 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D785)[16] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Moderate[1] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[1] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[12] | Slightly flexible in thin sections[3] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | 54 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned, ZX against XZ ultimate tensile, ASTM D638); 59 on the yield figures[15] | Not documented |
| Wear resistance & friction | 3DXTech sells a dedicated wear-resistant PA6 grade; abrasion resistance is the usual reason to choose PA6 over PA12[6] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 149 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 300 °F)[16] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 93 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned, ASTM D648 at 264 psi)[15] | 113 on extruded PVDF stock (ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 235 °F)[16] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 105 (DSC, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[5] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 170 melting (ISO 11357)[3] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 149 long term and short term on extruded PVDF stock (converted from 300 °F)[16] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 81.0 on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F); no figure is published for a PA6 filament, and PA6 and PA66 expand almost identically[17] | 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[16] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the unfilled filament grades surveyed[5] | UL 94 V-0 on extruded PVDF stock; Ensinger lists inherent flame resistance[16] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows and chalks under UV[1] | Excellent — designed for permanent outdoor use; Ensinger lists good UV and weather resistance and high gamma radiation resistance for PVDF stock[3][16] |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis — the usual reason to choose a polyamide[1] | Outstanding — resistant to most acids, solvents and oxidising agents, which is the reason to use it[3] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Absorbs water, properties shift — a conditioned part is measurably softer and larger than the same part dry[12][10] | Excellent — essentially unaffected[3] |
| Food contact | Polymaker notes medical-grade variants exist, but standard filament is not food-contact certified[1] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[1] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[1] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[2] | Very high — toxic decomposition products; local exhaust mandatory. Above 315 °C thermal decomposition yields hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide[4] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[2] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[2] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[2] | 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[4] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[2] | Local exhaust to outside / fume hood — the SDS states local exhaust is preferred[4] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Not documented | 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[4] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands poorly — the toughness makes it gum rather than powder[9] | Not documented |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[9] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[9] | Not documented |
| Support material pairing | PVA dissolves cleanly against nylon; Polymaker sells a break-away PolySupport for PA12[9] | Not documented |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Parts grow as they absorb moisture after printing; Polymaker declines to publish a standard dimensional allowance because it depends on geometry and infill[12] | The processing window sits well below the 315 °C decomposition threshold, so nozzle temperature must be controlled rather than raised to chase flow[3][4] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~50 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — 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 it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves 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 are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[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
- PA (Nylon) — 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
- FluorX PVDF Technical Data Sheet v3 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- FluorX PVDF Safety Data Sheet v1.1 3DXTech · 2026-08 · msds
- iOn PA6-based Nylon Alloy Technical Data Sheet v2.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PA6 Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- FluorX PVDF — product page 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA — Technical Data Sheet page Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · tds
- FDM Nylon 6 — data sheet (conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH) Stratasys · 2017-11 · tds
- TECAFLON PVDF natural — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- 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