Earlier inorganic materials mainly included ceramics, glass and cement, and later refractory materials appeared. Nowadays, inorganic materials such as optical glass, industrial ceramics, asbestos, mica, cast stone, diamond and graphite have become indispensable and important materials in modern science and technology.
Inorganic materials have many advantages. First of all, there are many kinds of it, about 100, and there are more than 30 kinds widely used in industry. Secondly, it has excellent performance, which is not only resistant to high temperature and corrosion, but also hard and not afraid of oxidation, and can convert light, electricity and sound. For example, materials that can withstand high temperatures above 2000℃ are needed to manufacture magnetic fluid generators, but ordinary metals can only withstand high temperatures around 1000℃, even refractory metals, and inorganic nonmetallic materials can meet this need. Another example is that graphite is widely used as a moderator in the atomic energy industry; Asbestos is the only natural mineral fiber, which has great tensile strength and elasticity, and can be used for fire prevention, sound insulation, heat insulation, acid and alkali resistance and heat preservation.