3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
POM vs PVB
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | POM (acetal)ENGINEERING | 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 | Polyoxymethylene, normally the copolymer POM-C. Apium's filament grade is POM-C with antistatic additives; no unfilled POM filament was found on sale[1][2] | Polyvinyl butyral — a printable thermoplastic whose surface can be smoothed with isopropyl alcohol instead of a hot solvent[3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.41 (extruded POM-C stock)[1] | 1.10 (Polymaker PolySmooth, ISO 1183); Prusament PVB 1.10[3][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 — Apium sells a POM-C ESD filament through its own shop and states its printers are the only ones able to process POM-C; no POM filament appears in the 3DJAKE or igo3d product sitemaps, at MatterHackers or at Printed Solid[2][7][8][6] | 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 | Gears, bushings, bearings, conveyor and food-machinery parts; Apium markets its POM-C ESD grade for semiconductor insulators, aerospace fasteners and sliding parts[1][2] | Display models and light guides where a layer-free surface matters more than strength[3] |
| 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 | Not documented | Open frame is fine[3] |
| 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 | Not documented | Easy — minor profile tuning; it prints close to PLA[3] |
| Extruder requirement | Apium states that the adaptive heating system on its industrial machines is what makes POM-C printable, and that no other 3D printer can process it[2] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Not documented | Brass fine indefinitely[3] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Not documented | Non-abrasive[3] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Not documented | 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[9][10] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Low (0.1-0.3 %) — extruded POM-C stock takes up 0.18 % in 24 h and 0.80 % at saturation (ASTM D570)[1] | Very high (>2 %) — 2.36 % equilibrium water absorption (Polymaker PolySmooth), above every PLA and PETG grade here[3] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 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[3][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 | Not documented | Polymaker publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; at 2.36 % equilibrium uptake the material has to be kept dry to print cleanly[3][10] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed with desiccant[10] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 66.9 at break and 64.1 at yield (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638; converted from 9700 and 9300 psi)[1] | 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)[3][11][4] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 2275 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638; converted from 330,000 psi)[1] | 2199 ± 43 printed XY and 2010 ± 69 printed Z, ISO 527 (PolySmooth); Prusament PVB gives 1700 +/- 100 in both print directions (ISO 527-1)[3][4] |
| Elongation at break% | 40 at break and 9 at yield (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D638)[1] | 5.7 ± 0.5 printed XY, ISO 527 (PolyCast)[11] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | 89.6 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D790; converted from 13,000 psi)[1] | 72 +/- 1 printed horizontal and 73 +/- 3 printed vertical, ISO 178 (Prusament PVB)[4] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 2758 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D790; converted from 400,000 psi)[1] | 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 POM-C stock, converted from 1.0 ft-lb/in[1] | 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 | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking; extruded stock elongates 40 % before failing. No printed figure is published[1] | Moderate[3] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Rockwell 86 (and R120) — the source names only the R scale on extruded POM-C stock (ASTM D785)[1] | Shore D 77 (Prusa Polymers method)[4] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Rigid[3] |
| 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 65e-10 in3*min/(ft*lb*h) and a dynamic coefficient of friction of 0.21 at 40 psi and 50 fpm (ASTM D3702, extruded stock) — the properties that make acetal the default gear and bushing plastic; Apium lists good sliding properties as the reason for its grade[1][2] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 158 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 316 °F)[1] | 68 (PolySmooth) and 67 (PolyCast), ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa; Prusament PVB 63 (ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa)[3][11][4] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 110 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D648 at 264 psi; converted from 230 °F)[1] | 66 (PolySmooth) and 53 (PolyCast), ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa; Prusament PVB 58 (ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa)[3][11][4] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 70 (DSC) for both PolySmooth and PolyCast[3][11] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 165 melting (extruded POM-C stock; converted from 329 °F)[1] | Amorphous — no melting point; Vicat 70 (PolySmooth) and 67 (PolyCast), ISO 306[3][11] |
| Continuous service temperature°C | 91 long term and 141 intermittent (extruded POM-C stock; converted from 195 °F and 285 °F)[1] | Not documented |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 84.6 (extruded POM-C stock, ASTM D696; source states 4.7e-5 in/in/°F)[1] | Not documented |
| Flammability / UL 94 | UL 94 HB on extruded POM-C stock[1] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| Chemical resistance | Good chemical resistance, particularly to bases; Apium lists resistance to bases as a headline property[1][2] | Not documented |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Good — minor absorption; 0.80 % water at saturation (ASTM D570, extruded stock)[1] | Not documented |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Volume resistance 1e14 ohm-cm, dielectric strength 500 V/mil and dielectric constant 3.7 at 60 Hz on extruded stock (ASTM D257, D149, D150); Apium's filament grade adds antistatic agents[1][2] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Not documented | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[12] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Not documented | Open a window / occasional ventilation[12] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Easy to machine — Ensinger lists machinability as a headline property of POM-C stock[1] | Not documented |
| 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[3] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | PolyDissolve S1 is rated for PVB (Polymaker)[13] |
| 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 | Hexafluoroisopropanol dissolves it at room temperature; NMP and DMF only when hot. Laboratory reagents.[14] | Isopropyl alcohol dissolves it; Prusa describes PVB as soluble only in IPA, and it is not water-soluble.[9] |
| Softened or crazed by | Acids, oxidants, halogens and hot concentrated zinc chloride attack it; alcohols, ketones and esters do not.[14][15] | Not documented |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — no solvent softens POM below its melting point, which is why it is bolted or heat-welded rather than glued.[14] | Isopropyl alcohol: brushed or sprayed on for speed, or several hours in IPA vapour for a glass-like surface.[16][9] |
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
- TECAFORM AH natural (POM-C) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- POM-C ESD 3D printing — material page Apium 3D Technologies · 2026-08 · doc
- PolySmooth Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · 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
- 3DJAKE product catalogue 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- igo3d product sitemap (17452 product URLs) igo3d · 2026-08 · vendor
- Prusament PVB — material page Prusa Polymers · 2026-08 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyCast Technical Data Sheet V5.4 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
- Resistance of Ultramid, Ultraform and Ultradur to chemicals (TI-KTU/AS-28 e) BASF · 2000-10 · tds
- Chemical resistance — resistance of Ensinger plastics to chemicals (DIN 50 014, 23/50) Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Improve your 3D prints with chemical smoothing Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc