Molding material

Claim 1

A molding material having a three-dimensional shape with length, thickness and width dimensions, and a specific surface (SS) larger than 20 cm 2 /g as defined by the equation SS=2{L×H+ W×(L+H)}/(L×W×H×P) wherein L is the length dimension, H is the thickness dimension, W is the width dimension and P is the specific weight of the molding material, said material comprising reinforcing fibers, each fiber thereof comprising a plurality of filaments, and a thermoplastic resin coated around the filaments of the reinforcing fibers and impregnated therein, wherein the reinforcing fibers are uniformly dispersed and aligned uniformly either along the length of the molding material or along the width of the molding material, wherein the length of the reinforcing fibers ranges from 1 to 30 mm and is substantially the same as the length of the molding material when uniformly dispersed and aligned uniformly along the length of the molding material or substantially the same as the width of the molding material when uniformly dispersed and aligned uniformly along the width of the molding material, wherein the amount of reinforcing fibers ranges from 50 weight % to 90 weight % with the proviso that the amount and type of reinforcing fibers together with the amount and type of thermoplastic resin is selected to provide a specific weight for the molding material effective to provide a specific surface larger than 20 cm 2 /g, and wherein the thickness of the molding material is shorter than 1 mm with the proviso that the length, width, and thickness of the molding material, together with the specific weight of the molding material, are selected to provide a specific surface of the molding material larger than 20 cm 2 /g.