###### Abstract  
An as-produced epoxy material reinforced with ZnO (nano)rods for outdoor use was produced for the purpose of enclosing VHF/early UHF transceiving elements. Three different ZnO (nano)rod percentages were dispersed (0.1 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 2 wt%) in epoxy samples and were consequently exposed to an artificial weathering environment for a total period of 2880 h. SEM and XRD characterizations were followed by gravimetric, colorimetric and dielectric measurements that were conducted every 576-h AWE treatment intervals and were complemented by FTIR, UV-Vis, contact angle and gloss measurements. The composite exhibited favourable dielectric behaviour: ZnO presence inflicted minimal impact to the composites' loss tangent, while dielectric permittivity was reduced for low ZnO content (0.1 wt%/0.5 wt%), especially until the 1152-h interval, while it suffered an increase for 2 wt% samples that was maintained from the beginning until the end of the experiment. Hence, the low-k (4-5-2) constructed material, compared to bare epoxy resin, maintained moderate loss tangent levels (0.55-0.7) in the VHF/early UHF spectrum, throughout the full AWE treatment, and also attained reduced dielectric permittivity, thus exhibiting moderate radio frequency transparency, together with enhanced endurance against environmental fatigue. ZnO; epoxy; artificial weathering; dielectric properties; aging; VHF Article Influence of ZnO (Nano)Rods on the Dielectric Properties of DGEBF Epoxy Exposed to Progressive Artificial Weathering for VHF/Early UHF Applications. 1 (2023) 13 (  
tance [14; 15; 16; 17]. When reinforced with carefully selected fillers, certain resin properties may be critically enhanced. For instance, the incorporation of 5 wt% zinc oxide (ZnO) into the epoxy matrix is responsible for the creation of a composite material with improved mechanical strength, as reported in the literature [18; 19]. ZnO is a well-known n-type inorganic compound of the II-VI semiconductor group with a large band gap of 3.37 eV and a high exciton binding energy of 60 meV [20]. Although dielectric properties of aged ZnO-filled epoxy resins have been investigated in low (10 mHz-1 MHz) [21; 22; 23] and microwave frequency ranges [24; 25; 26], the VHF frequency range has not been thoroughly investigated in the existing literature. However, [PERSON] et al. [27] studied a ZnO-loaded epoxy composite in the 1 MHz-1 GHz frequency range and reported increased relative permittivity for 5 wt% filler loadings, in contrast to decreased k\({}^{\prime}\) for filler loadings below 1 wt%, when compared to bare epoxy. Moreover, they found tan\(\delta\) decreased for all filler loadings when compared to bare epoxy. In the same manner, the 0.5 wt% ZnO epoxy composite, produced by [PERSON] et al. [28], exhibited a significant k\({}^{\prime}\) reduction, in contrast to the k\({}^{\prime}\) increase found in higher filler loadings, when examined in the frequency range 1 MHz-1 GHz. Interestingly, the same phenomenon, namely the decrease of relative permittivity in epoxy composites with low filler content, as opposed to the increase observed at higher filler content, has also been reported in lower frequencies by [PERSON] et al. [23] in the frequency range of 0.4 KHz-1 MHz. In this study, thermosetting Bisphenol F diglycidyl ether epoxy resin was chosen as a base material, due to its inherent superior mechanical strength and low moisture ingress, in order to fabricate a protective composite intended for outdoor use. Furthermore, in order to shape the composite's dielectric behaviour in the 10 MHz-1 GHz frequency range, which fully covers the VHF spectrum and partially the UHF, while extending its overall endurance against UV radiation damage, ZnO has been chosen as the right filler due to its known semiconducting properties, UV resistance and non-toxicity [27; 29; 30; 31]. The applied synthesis procedure, which is environmentally friendly, yielded ZnO (nano)rods in both nano- and micro-scale.