3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PC-CF vs PMMA
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Carbon-fibre PC (PC-CF)PC | PMMA (acrylic)ENGINEERING |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $62.58/kg median; $34.99–$117.33/kg across 6 dated product listings | $49.99/kg median; $49.99–$49.99/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Polycarbonate reinforced with chopped carbon fibre[1][2] | Poly(methyl methacrylate) — acrylic, sold for 3D printing as a transparent glass substitute[3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.22 (Prusament) and 1.36 (3DXTech), ISO 1183[1][2] | Not documented |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 35–117; the middle of the market is about 63[4][5][6][7][8] | 1 kg spools cluster near 50[9] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 35–117 across brands; Ambrosia 35, IEMAI 39, YXPOLYER 55, Spectrum PC CF 70, Prusament 94, 3DXTech 117[4][5][6][7][8] | 50 at Push Plastic's 1 kg listing; 3 kg spools run the same per kilogram[9] |
| Market availability1–5 | Available from several mainstream brands[4][6][10] | Special order, 1–2 makers worldwide[9] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.75, 0.8 and 1 kg spools[4][6] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 1 and 3 kg spools[9] |
| Typical applications | Stiff high-temperature structural parts — jigs, drone frames and under-bonnet brackets[1][2] | Transparent covers and light guides where PC's yellowing or cost rules it out[3] |
| Diameter tolerance± mm | ±0.04 (Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber)[1] | Not documented |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 285 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Bed temperature°C | 110 ± 10 (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive)[1][11] | Not documented |
| Part cooling fan | Off — Prusa allows 0–20 % and warns cooling significantly reduces interlayer adhesion[1] | Not documented |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI with a glue stick or a commercial adhesive[12] | Not documented |
| Warping tendency1–5 | High — enclosure needed for reliable large parts; the fibre reduces warping against unfilled PC[1][11] | Not documented |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[12][13] | Not documented |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed; Polymaker flags stringing as a common PC problem[13] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; hardened nozzle mandatory[11][1] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required[11] | Not documented |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — standard CF composite[11] | Not documented |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles; PC already absorbs water from the air and 3DXTech adds a hardened 0.4 mm minimum nozzle, 0.25 mm layers and a 120 °C pre-dry[14][12][15] | Not documented |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Slightly sensitive[12] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | All-metal hot end required (Simplify3D)[12] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Low (0.1–0.3 %) — the PC matrix takes up 0.15–0.25 % and 3DXTech specifies a 120 °C, 4 h pre-dry[16][17][14] | Not documented |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 0.11 after 7 days at 24 °C / 22 % RH (Prusa Polymers)[1] | Not documented |
| Symptoms when wet | Bubbling and popping at the nozzle, stringing and a rough surface[18] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | No dry-versus-conditioned figures are published. Polymaker calls PC highly hygroscopic and requires a 70–80 °C dry for 6–8 h; run wet, the loss shows as surface defects and poor layer adhesion[13][18] | Not documented |
| Storage requirement | Airtight containers with desiccant to prevent reabsorption[13] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 64 ± 3 printed horizontal and 70 ± 3 printed vertical at yield, ISO 527-1 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 73 at break[1][2] | Not documented |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2600 printed horizontal and 3200 printed vertical, ISO 527-1 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 6980[1][2] | Not documented |
| Elongation at break% | 4.6 at yield printed horizontal (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 2.1 at break[1][2] | Not documented |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 94 ± 3 printed horizontal and 130 ± 2 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 85[1][2] | Not documented |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 3500 printed horizontal and 4200 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament); 3DXTech quotes 6540[1][2] | Not documented |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | 12 ± 1 printed horizontal and 17 ± 2 printed vertical, ISO 179-1 notched (Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| Other impact data | Charpy unnotched 32 ± 5 printed horizontal and 35 ± 4 printed vertical (Prusament, ISO 179-1)[1] | Not documented |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 23 ± 2 (Prusa Polymers interlayer adhesion test) — above the 21 ± 2 of unfilled Prusament PC Blend[1][17] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Moderate[1][2] | Not documented |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | 83 Shore D (Prusa Polymers method), against 79 for unfilled Prusament PC Blend[1][17] | Not documented |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Excellent — holds load for years. Room-temperature tensile creep of moulded unfilled PC ran unbroken at 41 MPa until the test was stopped; short carbon fibre raises the flexural modulus from about 2.1 to 3.5-6.5 GPa, which reduces creep strain further[19][1] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Good. No fatigue test data was found for a carbon-fibre PC filament; the unfilled polymer is rated Good on the same scale[19] | Not documented |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 114 (ISO 75, 0.45 MPa, Prusament)[1] | Not documented |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 106 (ISO 75, 1.8 MPa, Prusament), against 93 for unfilled Prusament PC Blend[1][17] | Not documented |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 127 (3DXTech, DSC)[2] | Not documented |
| Continuous service temperature°C | 113 — Prusa publishes this as the temperature resistance of Prusament PC Blend[17] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Degrades within weeks outdoors unless stabilised[13] | Not documented |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, solvents and fuels; Polymaker rates it good against weak acids[13] | Not documented |
| Food contact | Bisphenol-A polycarbonate is not offered as food-contact filament[13] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[13] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[13] | Not documented |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Surface resistance above 10⁹ ohm/sq — not static-dissipative (3DXTech, ASTM D257)[2] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[20] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈4 × 10¹⁰ median — the highest ultrafine-particle rate of the nine filaments in the chamber study, above every ABS tested[20] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[20][11] | Not documented |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Carbon fibre is bound in the matrix; sanding dust should not be inhaled[2] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands and machines well; the toughness means it cuts rather than chips[12] | Not documented |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; dichloromethane solvent-welds PC but is a laboratory reagent[12] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[12] | Not documented |
| Support material pairing | Prints its own supports; 3DXTech sells a dedicated PC break-away support[12] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Dichloromethane and chloroform dissolve the matrix and leave the fibre; DMF and dioxane do the same (Covestro).[21] | Acetone, MEK, ethyl and butyl acetate, THF, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride dissolve it; the last two are laboratory reagents.[22] |
| Softened or crazed by | Methanol, butyl acetate, ether, 1 % NaOH and phthalate plasticisers stress-crack it; acetone, MEK and xylene swell it.[21] | Alcohols, aliphatic hydrocarbons, oils and phthalate plasticisers craze it, and the threshold falls as stress rises.[22] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | Dichloromethane cement welds the resin, but the fibre keeps the joint from flowing closed. Controlled carcinogen.[23] | Dichloromethane acrylic cement (IPS Weld-On 3): 2–5 min soak, 17.2 MPa lap shear at one week. Controlled carcinogen.[23] |
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
- Prusament PC Blend Carbon Fiber Technical Datasheet v2.0 Prusa Polymers · 2023-04 · tds
- CarbonX Carbon Fiber ezPC Polycarbonate Technical Data Sheet 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- PMMA Filament 1.75mm 1kg — product page Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 2026-08 · vendor
- Spectrum PC CF Carbon Black, 1.75 mm / 250 g 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI CF-PC 3D Printing Filament product page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PC CF product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- Push Plastic product catalogue Push Plastic · 2026-08 · vendor
- Filastruder product catalogue Filastruder · 2026-08 · vendor
- ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide Bambu Lab Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Polycarbonate — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PC — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- CARBONX ezPC+CF — product page (print recommendations) 3DXTech · 2026-08 · doc
- Composite materials filled with carbon, kevlar or glass Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet V2.0 — PC Bambu Lab · 2026-08 · tds
- Prusament PC Blend Technical Datasheet v1.1 Prusa Polymers · 2022-02 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Experimental data for creep and dynamic mechanical properties of polycarbonate and polycarbonate/ABS Data in Brief 42:108264 · 2022-06 · paper
- 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
- Makrolon — The chemical resistance (Makrolon 2800, 6 days at 23 °C and 50 °C) Covestro · 2016-12 · tds
- Chemical resistance of PMMA products Mitsubishi Chemical (Acrypet) · 2026-08 · tds
- Weld-On 3 Acrylic Plastic Cement — technical data sheet (shipped as dichloromethane) IPS Corporation · 2002-07 · tds