Highly dispersed Cu catalyst based on the layer confinement effect of Cu/Zn/Ga-LDH for methanol synthesis

•AMOST proved to be efficient for synthesis of Cu/ZnO/Ga2O3 catalyst compared to CP.•Maximum Cu dispersion of 70% was achieved using 20% Ga containing catalyst.•Ga found to form complete LDH structure as compared to Al.•The AMOST method resulted in high and stable STY of 762 mg•gCat−1•h−1.