Resins vs Powders: Which Material Family Should You Choose for 3D Printing?

Depending on the intended application and the preferred 3D printing process, different materials can be used, only makes the selection more difficult for the user due to the wide range. Whether plastics, ceramics or even metals, the 3D printing material portfolio can be long and confusing. Therefore, we would like to give a detailed overview that directly compares two families of polymer materials: resins and powders. It should also be noted that although there are a number of powders and resins on the market today, such as metal powders or even ceramic resins, today we will focus only on polymers.

There are two types of 3D printing plastics: thermosets and thermoplastics, with the main difference between these two families being their different behavior when exposed to heat. On the one hand, thermoset plastics decompose when cured and do not reform after cooling. On the other hand, thermoplastics are the most commonly used, and when heated they can assume the desired shape and undergo various melting and solidification processes, with their properties changing slightly each time they are reheated.

Plastic powders can be used in many areas, e.g. in the automotive industry (photo credits: EOS)

These two families of materials are among the most used in additive manufacturing. For plastic powders, the market is expected to reach $3 billion by 2029 according to the Linker report, and for resins, this value is even estimated to be over $750 billion according to Fortune Business Insights. As you might expect, each family of materials is compatible with different 3D printing processes such as SLS or Multi Jet Fusion for powders, and material jetting or photopolymerization for resins; we’ll go into more detail on these in our article, as well as post-processing, pricing, material characteristics, manufacturers and more!