You might ask the question, is it ABS or PLA-based. The answer, surprisingly, is neither. It’s an entirely new polymer, never previously used for 3D printing. In fact, it’s never been used EVER.
Amphora has been newly developed specifically for filament-based 3D printing applications by the American firm Eastman Chemical Company. As far as we know, this has NEVER happened before. Plastics used for 3D printing were in fact, leftover plastics, designed for other purposes that had nothing to do with 3D printing.
Now, however, there are sufficient 3D printers in the world to justify the development of new plastics that match the needs for improved 3D printed filament.
Imagine if you were granted a wish to magically develop a new plastic filament. What properties would you include in it? Would you make it shiny? Bendable? Heat resistant? Dishwasher safe? That’s the challenge posed by ColorFabb to Eastman last year. Eastman chemists took up this challenge and created a checklist of required properties.
And then they made a polymer that has them.
Ok, let’s get directly to the juicy facts about Amphora:
- It produces very little to no odor during printing, avoiding the same issue experienced when printing ABS
- Far fewer unhealthy nanoparticles become airborne during Amphora printing, unlike ABS plastic
- Amphora is a very strong material, avoiding the fragility of PLA plastic
- Finer details are possible due to the strength of the material
- Amphora has a higher melting point than PLA, meaning you might be able to leave an Amphora print on your car dashboard and expect to not melt
- Layers bond together much better, meaning prints are stronger and surface finish is improved
- The material has very strong chemical resistance; few common substances will affect it
- It’s approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for “food contact” applications
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