The U-shaped (Pr0.9La0.1)(2)(Ni0.74Cu0.21Ga0.05)O4+delta (PLNCG) hollow fiber membranes are prepared by a phase inversion spinning process. The membranes are modified by acid etching followed by a porous catalytic layer coating of La0.8Sr0.2CoO3-delta (LSC) aiming to improve the surface exchange kinetics, thus increasing the oxygen permeation flux. The oxygen permeation fluxes through the unmodified/acid etched/acid etched followed by LSC coated PLNCG hollow fiber membranes are measured under air/He gradients. At 800 degrees C, the oxygen permeation flux through the unmodified membrane is 0.06 ml/min cm(2), while it rises to 0.21 ml/min cm(2) after surface modification. The surface modified hollow fiber membrane exhibits noticeably higher oxygen permeation flux than that through the unmodified membrane, especially at relatively low temperatures, which indicates the membrane surface modification is beneficial for improving the oxygen permeation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.