## 5 Conclusions  
In this paper, a fully as-produced epoxy material reinforced with ZnO (nano)rods was conceptualized for the purpose of enclosing VHF/early UHF transceiving equipment for outdoor use. To that end, 20 samples of DGEBF epoxy resin were constructed, intowhich three different ZnO (nano)rod percentages were dispersed (0.1 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 2 wt%). In consequence, all samples, excluding control ones, were exposed to an artificial weathering environment (AWE) for a total period of 2880 h. Gravimetric, colorimetric and dielectric measurements were conducted every 576-h AWE treatment interval and were complemented by FTIR, UV-Vis, contact angle and gloss measurements that revealed the status change between the initial and final experimental phases. Of course, SEM and XRD characterizations of used materials complemented the entire experimental procedure.  
The as-produced composite exhibited interesting dielectric behaviour, corroborated by multiple samples and multiple measurement points inside each sample. Specifically, although epoxy resin dominated overall dielectric behaviour, ZnO presence inflicted minimal impact to the composites' loss tangent and a double effect to dielectric permittivity; k' was reduced for C0.1 and C0.5 samples until INT1152, while it suffered an increase for C2 samples that was maintained from INT0 up to INT2880. At the same time, the composite was capable of withstanding the damaging effects of AWE treatment, especially as ZnO content increased (C0.5, C2). Hence, the low-k (4-5.2) constructed material attained not only moderate loss tangent levels (0.55-0.7) in the VHF/early UHF spectrum that were virtually unaltered by AWE treatment, but also reduced dielectric permittivity when compared to bare samples, thus exhibiting moderate radio frequency (RF) transparency.  
The composite choice for potting electronic assemblies would be the C0.5, due to its overall stability of dielectric loss and its reduced dielectric permittivity. What is more, it exhibited excellent UV-blocking capabilities only slightly inferior to the C2 samples, one of the lowest colour changes, adequate ZnO dispersion and favourable stability of surface wettability and gloss. It should also be noted that, although similar dielectric behaviour is observed for C0.1 samples, it unfortunately comes together with a lower resistance to AWE treatment damage. Since the present study conforms to Technology Readiness Level 4, field testing would be the next phase of this research.  
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13031375/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13031375/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13031375/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app13031375/s1)), Figure S1: ZnO dispersion in C0.5 sample surfaces at INT2880, Figure S2: Weight loss (%) including initial 144-hour measurement intervals, Figure S3.1: Graphic representation of reconditioned samples' dielectric behavior at INT0 in the full measurement range 2 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\)-1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) Hz together with dielectric relaxation occurrence (**a**) tan\(\delta\), (**b**) k', Figure S3.2: Graphic representation of reconditioned samples' dielectric behavior at INT2880 in the full measurement range 2 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\)-1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) Hz together with dielectric relaxation occurrence (**a**) tan\(\delta\), (**b**) k', Figure S3.3: Dielectric properties of C0.1 & C2 samples during AWE treatment compared to C0/INT0 in DS (**a**) tan\(\delta\)A\(\