3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA6/66 vs PVB
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | PA66 (Nylon 66)PA | PVBSPECIALTY |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | Not documented | $66.65/kg median; $49.32–$79.98/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polyamide 66, condensed from hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; melts around 40 °C above PA6[1] | Polyvinyl butyral — a printable thermoplastic whose surface can be smoothed with isopropyl alcohol instead of a hot solvent[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.14 (extruded unfilled PA66 stock)[3] | 1.10 (Polymaker PolySmooth, ISO 1183); Prusament PVB 1.10[2][4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | Not documented | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 80[5][6] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | Not documented | 49–102 across brands; Polymaker PolySmooth 49 at 750 g, Prusament PVB 80–102 at 500 g[5][6] |
| 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[7][5] | Available from several mainstream brands[5][6] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | Not documented | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5 and 0.75 kg spools[5][6] |
| Typical applications | Not documented | Display models and light guides where a layer-free surface matters more than strength[2] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | Not documented | +/- 0.03 (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 215 +/- 10 (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 75 +/- 5 (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[1] | Open frame is fine[2] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | 100 % part cooling (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | Smooth PEI sheet or satin sheet; Prusa states a brim is not generally necessary[4] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[1] | Easy — minor profile tuning; it prints close to PLA[2] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Not documented | Brass fine indefinitely[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Not documented | Non-abrasive[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[8][9] | Moderate — needs dry filament and a clean nozzle; Prusa calls PVB very prone to absorbing moisture and requires a 60 °C, 4 h dry before every print[10][9] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %)[9] | Very high (>2 %) — 2.36 % equilibrium water absorption (Polymaker PolySmooth), above every PLA and PETG grade here[2] |
| 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] | 2.36 equilibrium water absorption (Polymaker PolySmooth); 2.09 for PolyCast; Prusament PVB takes up 0.18 in 24 h and 0.35 in 7 days at 24 °C and 22 % RH[2][11][4] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | Maximum 60 °C for 4-8 h depending on how wet the filament is (Prusament PVB)[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 %[12][8] | Polymaker publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; at 2.36 % equilibrium uptake the material has to be kept dry to print cleanly[2][9] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed with desiccant[9] |
| 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] | 51.8 ± 0.7 printed XY, ISO 527 (PolySmooth); 53.2 ± 1.1 for PolyCast; Prusament PVB gives 50 +/- 5 at yield printed horizontal (ISO 527-1) and 57 +/- 1 on the filament (ISO 527)[2][11][4] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2413 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638; converted from 350,000 psi)[3] | 2199 ± 43 printed XY and 2010 ± 69 printed Z, ISO 527 (PolySmooth); Prusament PVB gives 1700 +/- 100 in both print directions (ISO 527-1)[2][4] |
| Elongation at break% | 50 at break on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D638)[3] | 5.7 ± 0.5 printed XY, ISO 527 (PolyCast)[11] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 113.8 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 16,500 psi)[3] | 72 +/- 1 printed horizontal and 73 +/- 3 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 3034 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D790; converted from 440,000 psi)[3] | 2233 ± 106 printed XY, ISO 178 (PolyCast); Prusament PVB gives 2200 +/- 100 horizontal and 2300 +/- 100 vertical (ISO 178)[11][4] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 7 +/- 1 printed horizontal and 10 +/- 1 printed vertical, ISO 179-1 notched (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Other impact data | Izod 53 J/m on extruded PA66 stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[3] | Charpy unnotched 55 +/- 7 printed horizontal and 59 +/- 12 printed vertical (Prusament PVB, ISO 179-1)[4] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 26.3 ± 2.1 printed Z, ISO 527 (PolyCast); Prusament PVB gives 49 +/- 5 at yield printed vertical (ISO 527-1) and 9 +/- 1 on Prusa's interlayer adhesion test[11][4] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[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] | Shore D 77 (Prusa Polymers method)[4] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Excellent — living hinges viable[1] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Semi-flexible[8] | Rigid[2] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 98 (Prusament PVB, printed vertical against horizontal tensile yield, ISO 527-1: 49 +/- 5 against 50 +/- 5) — the most isotropic printed material in this dataset[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] | 68 (PolySmooth) and 67 (PolyCast), ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa; Prusament PVB 63 (ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa)[2][11][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] | 66 (PolySmooth) and 53 (PolyCast), ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa; Prusament PVB 58 (ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa)[2][11][4] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 70 (DSC) for both PolySmooth and PolyCast[2][11] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 255 melting on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D2133; converted from 491 °F)[3] | Amorphous — no melting point; Vicat 70 (PolySmooth) and 67 (PolyCast), ISO 306[2][11] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | 85 long term and 149 short term on extruded PA66 stock (converted from 185 °F and 300 °F)[3] | Not documented |
| 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 | ||
| Electrical & ESD properties | Volume resistance 1e15 ohm-cm and dielectric constant 4 on extruded PA66 stock (ASTM D257, D150)[3] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[13] | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[13] |
| 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[13] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[13] | 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[13] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[13] | Open a window / occasional ventilation[13] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | Isopropyl alcohol vapour smoothing is the point of the material — Polymaker markets PolySmooth for hands-free post-processing to a layer-free surface[2] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | PolyDissolve S1 is rated for PVB (Polymaker)[14] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | PolyCast is the investment-casting variant of the same chemistry — it burns out cleanly rather than being smoothed[11] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~80 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[15] | Isopropyl alcohol dissolves it; Prusa describes PVB as soluble only in IPA, and it is not water-soluble.[10] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[15] | Not documented |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[15] | Isopropyl alcohol: brushed or sprayed on for speed, or several hours in IPA vapour for a glass-like surface.[16][10] |
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
- PolySmooth Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Prusament PVB Technical Datasheet v1.1 Prusa Polymers · 2022-02 · tds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 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
- Prusament PVB — material page Prusa Polymers · 2026-08 · tds
- PolyCast Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · 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
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Improve your 3D prints with chemical smoothing Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc