CuO nanosheet arrays freely standing on nickel foam are prepared via a template-free growth method. The morphology of CuO nanosheet arrays is examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy and the phase structure of nanosheets is analyzed by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The supercapacitance of CuO nanosheet arrays is investigated by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the array of CuO nanosheets forms a uniform film of around 5μm in thickness on nickel foam skeleton. The film is composed of clusters of arrays of nanosheets with a thickness up to around 150nm. The CuO nanosheet arrays exhibit a specific capacitance of 569Fg−1 at a current density of 5mAcm−2 in 6.0moldm−3 KOH electrolyte. The capacitance loss is less than 17.5% after 500 charge/discharge cycles at 10mAcm−2 and with columbic efficiency higher than 93%.