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I'm very new to 3D printing, and I am very interested in printing electronics. I want to be able to print out circuits, so I've been trying to find a conductive filament. What sorts of conductive filaments are available to the consumer (me) and are of acceptable quality

Edited for clarity: I am not seeking a product recommendation, but rather am looking to know what sort of variety I can expect and more specifically which filaments are useful for printing electronics.

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  • $\begingroup$ Be warned that if you're trying to do anything with high speed signals, conductive filaments will cause you lots of problems due to the tight tolerances on impedance. And I might even say is not possible with current 3D printers though I haven't tried anything that crazy before to be honest. Low power/slow signals you should be golden, $\endgroup$
    – Diesel
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 1:48
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    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as primarily opinion-based, because it asks for a product recommendation. Moreover, what is "acceptable quality" to me may not be to you. $\endgroup$
    – Tom van der Zanden
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 8:43
  • $\begingroup$ They are asking what filaments are available to a consumer, if the "acceptable quality" line is clarified then this is fairly easy to answer. $\endgroup$
    – tjb1
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 12:22
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    $\begingroup$ You're asking the question the wrong way round. Find a candidate material, spec it and your use case, ask something specific about your concerns. $\endgroup$
    – Sean Houlihane
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 13:02
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    $\begingroup$ You can do a lot also an other thing i found very interesting is that you can metal plate that filaments xd :) so why not be able to metal plate specific areas that you have with that filament after the print ;) $\endgroup$
    – user5536
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 13:06

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At this point conductive filaments are a very new thing. All the filiments on the market are PLA based that have been infused with Carbon or Graphine

However I worry you over estimate what you can do with this. You will at most be able to 3d print a simple wire and power a LED. You will not be able to run a microcontroller, and honestly I would expect a complicated print to have too much or too little resistance, maybe burst into flames.

enter image description here

You really should look into the Voxle 8 and other printers. The printer is really the driving factor. Using a conductive filament will not be enough. Note this printer uses a syringe not PLA plastic.

Here is a Voxle8 print. Voxlel8

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