High temperature dense ceramic membranes made from mixed ionic/electronic conducting perovskite ceramics represent a high potential as a reliable source for oxygen and syngas production. In this work. La0.2Sr0.8Fe0.8Ta0.2O3 - delta based thin film perovskite system was evaluated, addressing the effect of structural surface modification on oxygen permeation rates. Membranes with similar to 20 mu m thick dense functional layer and, varying surface area on permeate side were fabricated by a dip coating technique. Oxygen permeation was measured at temperatures between 800 and 1000 degrees C by using varying partial pressure of O-2 as a driving force. Maximum O-2 flux values of similar to 5.8 and similar to 8.7 ml.cm(-2).min(-1) were recorded for smooth and structured permeation surfaces, respectively. This indicates that the surface roughness, which corresponds to an increase in surface area at the permeate side; can lead to a significant improvement in oxygen permeation rates reaching similar to 50% at 1000 degrees C. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.