Adsorption of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon on cobalt(II)-exchanged zeolite X at 288.2 and 303.0 K was studied. The nitrogen and oxygen adsorption capacities increase upon cobalt ion exchange up to 71%, beyond which it shows a decreasing trend because of the partial degradation of the zeolite structure during the cation exchange and high-temperature vacuum dehydration processes. The magnitude of the increase in the adsorption capacities for nitrogen is much higher than that of oxygen. The nitrogen/oxygen as well as nitrogen/argon selectivities in the low-pressure region increase with an increase in cobalt exchange. Marginal oxygen selectivity over argon is observed for zeolite samples with higher cobalt exchange. The heats of adsorption values for nitrogen and oxygen increase and that for argon remain unaffected by cobalt exchange in zeolite X. The very high nitrogen adsorption capacity, selectivity, and heat of adsorption in the low-pressure region for cobalt-exchanged zeolite X compared to the parent sodium form of the zeolite show stronger interaction between nitrogen molecules with the extraframework cobalt cations of the zeolite. This stronger interaction has been explained in terms of the T-complexation between nitrogen molecules and cobalt cations of the zeolites, as confirmed by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, wherein the N&3bond; N stretching frequency at 2099 cm(-1) is observed for N-2 molecules adsorbed in NaCoX.