Most Chemical Resistant filament?

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MG_MLS
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Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:44 pm

Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by MG_MLS » Wed Nov 12, 2014 6:30 am

Hi everyone,

I've had my M2 since Aug 18th, it did take almost that entire night to put it together, haha. There is one thing I want to print (and many more in my head and half drawn out) that would require a plastic that doesn't start to melt away with acetone.

Long story short, My full time job takes place in a medical laboratory, there are things that break, or things that would be handy to have, however... acetone, water, bleach, methanol (100%), ethanol (100%), a few types of acids and bases, are all common. I am looking for something that can be somewhat resistant to these things, not like it would be soaked in acetone, but stuff happens sometimes!

Would Nylon be an option? I think I remember reading on here it is a funny thing to work with and get it consistent.
Thanks for any thoughts!
~Michael

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Tim
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by Tim » Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:31 pm

Yes, nylon is generally considered to be the most chemical-resistant plastic that you can get in filament form, and nylon is completely resistant to acetone. Taulman (http://taulman3d.com) is considered to have the best nylon filaments. But Taulman (and others) have a bunch of different "recipes" for nylon, and I can't tell you the specific differences between them (which are probably proprietary). Organic chemistry is not my forte. Taulman appears to have been working very hard on that "consistency" problem, and the difficulties of printing with nylon. They launched a Kickstarter campaign a while back for "taulman3D ToolBox", with six new materials. From the Kickstarter page, though, it looks like they only managed to raise about a third of the funding needed https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21 ... -materials. Ignoring these new ones like 680 that have not made it to market yet, the nylon filament type called "Bridge" is probably your best bet, as it has low shrinkage compared to most other nylon types.

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insta
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by insta » Wed Nov 12, 2014 4:32 pm

Nylon is NOT resistant to acids though!

I think your best bet is actually HDPE: http://www.sdplastics.com/kingplastic/HDPE_CRC1.pdf . I know it's a pain in the butt to print with (print on thin cast HDPE sheets with a raft), and filament might be hard to find. I have a small roll somewhere of black HDPE I extruded, but the diameter is not very consistent. You're welcome to it for the cost of shipping if you'd like to try it.
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davycroc
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by davycroc » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:20 am

PLA is resistant to acetone (but not acid).

I have used T-Glase http://taulman3d.com/t-glase-features.html for vases and drinking containers...Drinks being acidic like lemonade and OJ, and it holds up to alcohol, acetone, and engine oil (in a sightglass). Haven't tried it on gasoline.

Ideally, you need a polyethylene filament as it is more sturdy and resistant to corrosion for long-term storage and use, so you might want to try PET plastic as well (inert to gasoline)

Just buy a roll of each filament and print a small part and drop it in for a dissolve test. Wear safety glasses if you want to see the results.

MG_MLS
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by MG_MLS » Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:22 am

Thanks everyone for your input. I will have to get some of the Bridge, I think that will be best for now, I did some experiments with the solution that contains some acetone this weekend when I had some time in the lab with a PLA printed part. In almost no time it took the color out of it. I just dripped some onto the part, and waited probably 10-20 sec max before rinsing it off. I can't remember our mixture, either 50% acetone/50% ethanol or it could be 80% isopropanol/20% acetone.
I use MakerGear filament.
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jsc
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by jsc » Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:56 am

I printed a platform for use in my acetone vapor smoothing setup in PLA. After exposure, it became flexible and warped. Not sure if that was the acetone exposure or the heat that was the main culprit, though I have read elsewhere that acetone does indeed make PLA flexy.

3DXTech
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Re: Most Chemical Resistant filament?

Post by 3DXTech » Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:48 pm

We are developing a PPS filament. PPS is high-temp, highly chemically resistant, and inherently flame-retardant. You'll need an all-metal extruder (melt temp 280c, processing a bit hotter than that), but it's a pretty amazing material. We've had our first couple go-arounds with it and hope to have something commercial in the next month or two. Sign-up for our newsletter and you'll get an email update when its ready to go out.
http://www.3dxtech.com

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