Faradaic supercapacitors have been proposed as energy storage devices capable of providing both high energy and power densities. The exceptional attributes of high specific surface area and good electrical properties displayed by vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays make them a promising candidate as faradaic capacitive electrode supports. However, some drawbacks to their use and performance exist including their resistance to wetting by an aqueous electrolyte solution, bad electrical continuity at the array/electrode base interface for binder-free applications, and potential collapse of the VACNT array because of capillary forces. This study explores possible solutions to these challenges by growing the arrays directly on conducting electrodes thus reducing the interfacial electrical resistance and removing the need for binders, using a combined plasma and forced vacuum wetting procedure to improve the wetting behavior, using a pulsed electrodeposition technique to obtain a uniform distribution of faradaic capacitive material (nickel cobaltite), and using freeze drying to prevent the collapse of the VACNT array's native pore structure after electrodeposition. A specific capacitance of 970 Fg(-1) at 2 Ag-1 is measured for the fabricated electrode with excellent performance (>80% retained capacity) over 3000 charge-discharge cycles. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.