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K x Fe 2-y Se 2 exhibits iron-vacancy ordering at T s ~270°C and separates into two phases: a minor superconducting (iron-vacancy-disordered) phase and a major non-superconducting (iron-vacancy-ordered) phase. The microstructural and superconducting properties of this intermixture can be tuned by an appropriate control of the quenching process through T s . A faster quenching rate leads to a finer microstructure and a suppression of formation of the non-superconducting phase by up to 50%. Nevertheless, such a faster cooling rate induces a monotonic reduction in the superconducting transition temperature (from 30.7 to 26.0 K) and, simultaneously, a decrease in the iron content within the superconducting phase such that the compositional ratio changed from K 0.35 Fe 1.83 Se 2 to K 0.58 Fe 1.71 Se 2 .

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