Experience with conductive filament?
A lot of my projects involve electronics with wiring to connect microcontrollers (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, etc.) to peripherals (buttons, LED strips, speakers, cameras, microphones, etc.) So I've long been interested in the prospect of printing traces embedded in 3D prints that could conduct small amounts of current.
The last time I checked this out was about five years ago, and the prospects were unappealing. Proto-Pasta featured a conductive filament that was not only very expensive but its resistivity was 10 kilo-ohms per centimeter, which restricted its application to very simple signaling.
I see that the options have expanded quite a lot since then. I'm interested in your experience with them and whether they're worth checking out or not.
The only filament that is even half useable for connections is https://www.multi3dllc.com/product/electrifi/
But look carefully at the data sheets; it fails at very low temperatures, even PLA looks heat resistant by comparison.
Otherwise so-called conductive filaments have high resistance and are really only of use for dissipating static build up or perhaps for making resistive touch pads.
I did once manage to print an LED flasher with a sample of prototype high graphene density PLA that I was given at a trade show but afaik the product never made it to market as it was horrible to print (graphene is also heat conducting), brittle, and still resistant so that that the tracks had to be too fat for PCB layouts.
So we're still waiting...
Cheerio,
RE: Experience with conductive filament?
That's a shame, but as I suspected. Thanks for the update.
RE: Experience with conductive filament?
I experimented a couple of years ago with a couple of different brands of "conductive" filaments for the purpose of being able to electroplate them. Did not work even at the low voltage and current needed to do this. Really wasn't even possible to get a good smooth post-processed finish that you'd want to chrome plate in the first place.
RE: Experience with conductive filament?
The only filament that is even half useable for connections is https://www.multi3dllc.com/product/electrifi/ block blast adventure
But look carefully at the data sheets; it fails at very low temperatures, even PLA looks heat resistant by comparison.
Otherwise so-called conductive filaments have high resistance and are really only of use for dissipating static build up or perhaps for making resistive touch pads.
I did once manage to print an LED flasher with a sample of prototype high graphene density PLA that I was given at a trade show but afaik the product never made it to market as it was horrible to print (graphene is also heat conducting), brittle, and still resistant so that that the tracks had to be too fat for PCB layouts.
So we're still waiting...
Cheerio,
Thanks for sharing