3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA6/66 vs PPS-CF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA66 (Nylon 66)PA | Fibre-reinforced PPSHIGHTEMP |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $139.98/kg median; $119.98–$174.17/kg across 5 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 66, condensed from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; melts around 40 °C above PA6[1] | Carbon-fibre reinforced PPS — Polymaker's Fiberon grade is nominally 10 wt%[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.14 (extruded unfilled PA66 stock)[3] | 1.29 (Fiberon PPS-CF10) and 1.36 (Fiberon PPS-GF20), ISO 1183[2][4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 93–174; the middle of the market is about 140[5][6][7][8] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 93-174 across brands and formats; Polymaker Fiberon PPS-GF20 93 at 3 kg, IEMAI 3D CF-PPS 131 at 750 g, LEHVOSS Luvocom 3F PPS CF 9938 164 at 2.3 kg, Bambu Lab PPS-CF 174 at 750 g[5][6][7][8] |
| Market availability1–5 | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide — no unfilled PA66 filament appeared in any catalogue searched, and the 3DXTech nylon range offers PA6, PA12 and a 6/66 copolymer but no straight PA66[9][5] | Available from several mainstream brands[5][6][7] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 mm; 0.5 kg spools[5] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Chemical and automotive parts needing PPS chemistry with structural stiffness[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[1] | Enclosure required (passive) — Polymaker states its Fiberon PPS-CF10 needs no heated chamber, unlike the unfilled sulfones and PAEKs[2] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1] | Expert / industrial hardware only[2] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Not documented | Hardened steel required[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Not documented | Highly abrasive — standard CF composite[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[10][11] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles; Polymaker specifies hardened steel or ruby nozzles for carbon-filled PPS and Prusa lists composites as a higher clogging risk[12][13] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %)[11] | Low (0.1–0.3 %) — 0.225 % equilibrium for Fiberon PPS-CF10 and 0.11 % for PPS-GF20[2][4] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 8.5 at saturation on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D570) — the highest uptake of any polymer in this dataset[3] | 0.225 equilibrium (Fiberon PPS-CF10); 0.11 (PPS-GF20)[2][4] |
| 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 %[14][10] | No dry-versus-conditioned figures are published; equilibrium uptake is 0.225 % and Polymaker specifies a 100 °C, 10 h dry[2] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 82.7 at yield and 84.8 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 12,000 and 12,300 psi) — no printed figure exists because no unfilled PA66 filament was found[3] | 59.4 ± 1.3 (PPS-CF10) and 64.1 ± 2.1 (PPS-GF20) printed XY, ISO 527[2][4] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2413 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 350,000 psi)[3] | 5446.7 ± 149.0 (PPS-CF10) and 4552.0 ± 54.6 (PPS-GF20) printed XY, ISO 527[2][4] |
| Elongation at break% | 50 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638)[3] | 1.4 ± 0.1 (PPS-CF10) and 2.0 ± 0.2 (PPS-GF20) printed XY, ISO 527 — the lowest elongation in the dataset[2][4] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 113.8 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 16,500 psi)[3] | Not documented |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 3034 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 440,000 psi)[3] | Not documented |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 5.3 ± 0.2 printed XY for PPS-CF10 and 7.3 ± 0.2 for PPS-GF20, ISO 179 notched[2][4] |
| Other impact data | Izod 53 J/m on extruded PA66 stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[3] | Not documented |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 32.0 ± 5.1 (PPS-CF10) and 22.9 ± 0.8 (PPS-GF20) printed Z, ISO 527[2][4] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Very brittle — cracks or shatters easily; elongation at break 1.4 %[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785)[3] | Rockwell 105 (and R124) on extruded unfilled PPS stock (ASTM D785); no figure is published for a fibre-filled PPS filament[15] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — holds load for years. Ensinger lists high creep resistance for unfilled PPS stock and Spectrum states creep resistance is unchanged under continuous load at high temperature; the fibre raises heat deflection to 252 °C at 0.45 MPa[15][16][2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[1] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[10] | Rigid[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 54 (PPS-CF10) and 36 (PPS-GF20), printed[2][4] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Wear factor 200e-10 in3*min/(ft*lb*h) on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D3702); Ensinger lists very good slide and wear properties[3] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 232 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 450 °F)[3] | 252.5 (PPS-CF10) and 236.3 (PPS-GF20), printed, ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa[2][4] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 90 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 194 °F) — the gap to the 0.45 MPa figure is the widest in the dataset[3] | 133 (PPS-CF10) and 125.8 (PPS-GF20), printed, ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa[2][4] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 97.7 (PPS-CF10) and 95.0 (PPS-GF20), DSC[2][4] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 255 melting on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2133; converted from 491 °F)[3] | 279.7 (PPS-CF10) and 279.6 (PPS-GF20) melting, DSC; Vicat 267.5 and 272.5 (ISO 306)[2][4] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | 85 long term and 149 short term on extruded PA66 stock (converted from 185 °F and 300 °F)[3] | 170 long-term service on extruded PPS stock, converted from 338 °F; no figure published for the carbon-filled grade[15] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 81.0 (extruded PA66 stock, ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F)[3] | Not documented |
| Flammability / UL 94 | UL 94 V-2 on extruded PA66 stock[3] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Outstanding — PPS resists essentially all solvents below 200 °C[12] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Volume resistance 1e15 ohm-cm and dielectric constant 4 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D257, D150)[3] | Surface resistivity above 10¹² ohm — insulating (ANSI/ESD S11.11)[2][4] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[17] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised. None of these polymers was in the chamber study, and all are processed far above the temperatures it covered[17] |
| 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[17] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[17] | 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[17] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[17] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[17] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Not documented | Fibre is bound in the matrix; sanding dust should not be inhaled[2] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~80 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[18] | None — PPS does not dissolve in any known solvent below 200 °C.[19][20] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[18] | Nothing at 23 °C; Ensinger rates it only conditionally resistant to benzene, dichloromethane, toluene and pyridine.[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 — no solvent welds or smooths PPS.[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
- Fiberon PPS-CF10 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2025-07 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Fiberon PPS-GF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2025-07 · tds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- Bambu Lab PPS-CF Black, spool (750 g) 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3D4Makers product catalogue 3D4Makers · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI 3D CF-PPS 3D Printing Filament — store page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PPS — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Composite materials filled with carbon, kevlar or glass Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- TECATRON natural (PPS) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Spectrum PPS AM230 Technical Data Sheet Spectrum Filaments · 2022-04 · 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
- PPS (Polyphenylene sulfide) — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds