Sustainable hydrogen production can be realized by steam reforming ethanol (SRE) derived from renewable biomass, but develop high-efficiency and sixpenny catalyst is a major challenge. Attapulgitesupported nickel catalyst (Ni/ATP) exhibits promising potential for SRE for hydrogen production. The influence of calcination temperature (CT) on the microscopic morphology and physicochemical properties of Ni/ATP was investigated by various technologies. The results revealed that increasing CT could improve metal-support interaction (MSI) and surface Ni active species content. However, extortionate CT (>700 degrees C) significantly led to catalyst structure collapse and crystal phase transfer accompanied with the formation of new species, which enhanced the MSI and reduced the surface Nio species content. The outcomes of SRE experiments demonstrated that Ni/ATP-C600 presented maximal activity and H2 yield due to its higher surface contents of the Nio active component and Ni/ATP-C900 exhibited unique stability owing to its stronger MSI. Hence, the coordination between active species distribution and MSI in Ni/ATP can be adjusted by CT. Additionally coke deposits on spent Ni/ATP-C300 were identified with quite aromatic species, which strongly attract to the surface of catalyst and encapsulate active site, while that on used Ni/ATP-C900 had higher degrees of graphitization, but did not affect the stability. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.