Thermoplastic · Ultra-high-performance
ExpertPEEK
Polyether Ether Ketone · Victrex PEEK
The pinnacle of FDM polymers — extreme heat and chemical resistance, even implant-grade. Requires a heated-chamber industrial printer.
Print temperatures
Nozzle 365–440 °C Bed 120–145 °C
PEEK is the pinnacle of practical FDM materials — aerospace, oil & gas, and medical implants (it's biocompatible). It tolerates continuous temperatures around 250 °C and resists almost everything chemically.
Printing it is genuinely industrial: nozzle temps ~360–440 °C and a heated chamber above ~120 °C for proper crystallization, with specialized hardware throughout.
Strengths & trade-offs
- Extreme heat resistance (continuous ~250 °C)
- Outstanding chemical and wear resistance
- Very high strength and stiffness
- Biocompatible (medical implants)
- Flame-retardant, excellent fatigue life
- Requires a specialized high-temp printer with heated chamber
- Extremely expensive
- Crystallization sensitive to chamber temp
- Demanding in every way
- Hygroscopic
Best for
Aerospace and defense partsOil & gas componentsMedical / surgical implantsExtreme heat / chemical end-useMetal-replacement parts
Did you know
- PEEK's first production batch is recorded: 19 November 1978 at ICI's Wilton site in England.
- PEEK is biocompatible and used for permanent surgical implants such as spinal cages.
- Proper PEEK printing needs a heated chamber above ~120 °C, or the part doesn't crystallize correctly.
