Yes it can be done. You can see the following link

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967311001488#

Dear Maharaia,

I guess, it is posible when UV light is used for detection.

However, you will normally be able to detect only compounds that absorb in the practical region of the UV spectrum /200 to 400 nm/.  The compounds detected will be non saturated fatty acids, their esthers and aromatics incl. phenolics - if present. Saturated moieties without chromophoric functional groups / without double bonds, -CH=O, =CO ...etc./  can not be seen in UV and VIS light wavelength used for detection.

Another problm will be selection of solid  and mobile phases. You should consult your knowledge of TLC chromatography with some good literature concerning chromatographic methods. I think, silicagel or Al2O3  could be able separate most of the components of biodiesel samples,  as a mobile phase THF, or CH3CN, or even methylethylketone  and ethylacetate might be tested.

Best regards,

R.S.

yes, but it only gives a quantitative indication of the presence of FAMEs and other significant compounds...

Certain papers I felt would help your query....

J Chromatogr A. 2011 May 13;1218(19):2785-92. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2011.01.067. Epub 2011 Jan 31.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967311001488

Analyst. 2009 Aug;134(8):1652-7. doi: 10.1039/b817847j. Epub 2009 Jun 26.

Journal of Chromatographic Science, Vol. 47, October 2009, Simple TLC-Screening of Acylglycerol Levels in Biodiesel as an Alternative to GC Determination. J.D. Fontana*, G. Zagonel, W. W. Vechiatto, B.J. Costa, J.C. Laurindo, R. Fontana, L. Pelisson, B.H. Jorge, and F.M. Lanças.

1.Smell test

2.Density test

3. FTIR studies of the biodiesel spectra

Yes, please see the attached paper. López et al.  (2014) Magnetic biocatalysts and their uses to obtain biodiesel and biosurfactants.Front. Chem., 2: 72 (DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2014.00072)

Actually the answer is NO.  Best is to do it by HPLC and refer the RT values from the literature.

This article I found very good. A method to separate FAME from others using TLC then detecting them quantitatively using photodensitometry.

[Optimization of the production of biodiesel from soybean oil by ultrasound assisted methanolysis - Fuel Processing Technology, Volume 90, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 312–316]  -  link is here:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382008002506

You can easily separate/identify FAME by TLC on silica gel plates, using petroleum ether/diethyl ether/acetic acid (85/15/1; v/v/v) as the mobile phase.

Please find attached one of my papers where TLC was used to follow FAME production.

please see this attachment if this will be helpful...

Regards...

Yes. Using petroleum ether/diethyl ether/acetic acid (85 : 15 : 1 vol/vol/vol) as the mobile phase, you have the separation as observed in the attached photo.

Yes, see attachment...

Hi Dr Meghwanshi,

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Best,

Atif

Dear all,

Thanks a lot for your valuable guidance. These are really helpful.

Thanks again.

You can use hexane: diethyl ether (9:1 v/v) as mobile phase. Then spray 10% phosphomolybdic acid in ethanolfollowed by heating at 105 deg C to visualize the spots.