public static function explode($string, $characters = ";>|/\\<")
    {
        $string = self::sanitizeString($string);

        if ($string === null) {
            return [];
        }

        // Convert characters into a safe regular expression
        $splitRegex = "";
        for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($characters); $i++) {
            $splitRegex .= "\\" . $characters[$i];
        }
        $splitRegex = "/[" . $splitRegex . "]/";

        $rawElements = preg_split($splitRegex, $string);
        $elements = [];
        foreach($rawElements as $rawElement) {
            $element = self::sanitizeString($rawElement);

            if ($element !== null) {
                $elements[] = $element;
            }
        }

        return $elements;
    }