Well, I recieved a couple samples of possible compliant surface silicone sheets. Unfrotunatley after some testing, I’ve found they won’t work for FTIR use.The first is from www.rubbercal.com. The durometer (hardness) of the sample is just too high (probably around 70) and therefore doesn’t stick to the acrylic at all. The other sample I recieved is from Rubber House on ebay. This sample is just too thick (1/16″), although it may be a great alternative if the supplier ever gets 1/32″ or thinner sheets in stock.
Since these samples did not “do the trick” and other mentioned brands posted on nuigroup.com aren’t ideal, I’ve decided to go ahead and order Smooth-On Sorta Clear 40 since it has been recommended on NUIgroup. This means I will be pouring my own silicone rubber sheet If everything goes as planned, this will also be the cheapest way of getting a compliant surface. It costs about $33 + $12 (for shipping) at the Smooth-On webstie for a trial size (2.2lb) which should be big enough to make a 36″ x 48″ size silicone sheet (1mm thick). That’s about double the size I need.
