As indicated by your error, explode requires a delimiter to split the string. Use str_split instead:
explode
str_split
$arr = str_split('testing');
Output
Array( [0] => t [1] => e [2] => s [3] => t [4] => i [5] => n [6] => g)
Use the str_split function.
$array = str_split( 'testing');
$string = "TEST";echo $string[0]; // This will display T
There is no need to explode it