In order to meet the demand of sustainable energy development in today's world, it is imperative to implement low energy processing technologies, such as low energy surface treatment. In this study, a low energy consumption plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) surface treatment technology with low breakdown voltage and high coating efficiency is designed by adding graphene oxide (GO). It is found that the addition of GO provided more possibilities for the formation of interionic reactions of passivation films, which results in the passivation current density and breakdown voltage reducing by 60 % and 22.31 %, respectively. Furthermore, GO induces a shift in the discharge form from metal/oxide interface discharge to oxide/electrolyte interface discharge, which enhances the growth efficiency of the ceramic coating by 24.70 %, and decreases the energy consumption of each reaction stage by 9.00 %, 10.45 % and 10.84 %. The obtained low energy consumption coating, with low overall porosity (3.38 vol%), exhibits a smooth surface and eliminates channels for corrosive ions, which improves the anti-friction property and corrosion resistance.