Membranes with good mechanical strength, high vapor flux and outstanding anti-wetting properties are essential for membrane distillation (MD) applications. In this work, porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) tri-bore hollow fiber membranes with super-hydrophobicity are developed to achieve these desired properties. The tri-bore hollow fiber offers better mechanical strength than the conventional single-bore fiber. To improve its anti-wetting properties, Teflon (R) AF 2400 is coated on the membrane surface. The effects of coating on membrane morphology, performance and anti-wetting properties have been thoroughly investigated. With an optimal coating condition (0.025 wt% of Teflon (R) 2400, 30 s), a super-hydrophobic surface with a contact angle of 151 degrees is achieved. The resultant membrane shows an increase of 109% in liquid entry pressure (LEP) with a slight sacrifice of 21% in flux. Long term direct contact MD tests have confirmed that the Teflon (R) AF 2400 coated membrane has enhanced stability with an average flux of 21 kg m(-2) h(-1) and rejection of 99.99% at 60 degrees C for desalination application. (C) (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.